The Ties of Friendship
by LuciferIX
Summary: May is in the final battle of the Johto Grand Festival and isn't doing too well. Will the memories of a certain someone bring her back on her feet enough to win the battle? Advanceshipping, AaMayL, SatoHaru, AshxMay
1. The Ties of Friendship

Well I'd be willing to bet that most of you weren't expecting to see me outside of the review lists, but I've had a small idea of an ending in my head for a while now thanks to a song and its just now that I've finally been able to build a story to hold it. As per my original pattern I'm back to May's POV for this one, and I know that a certain fish-loving friend of mine will be happy to see it up.

As a quick note I will have to mention that May's Eevee has not evolved in this story, even though I know that as of the most current Japanese episode she has evolved into a Glaceon. Those of you who are familiar with either myself or my work should be able to make a small list of reasons of why I chose this, and to those who aren't it makes no difference for the story so you don't need to worry.

Well that's enough babbling on my part, you just want the first chapter. But before we can begin there is one last thing.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Pokémon or any of its related material.

* * *

Things weren't looking up for me right now. I finally made it to the finals of one of the Grand Festivals, for which I am proud of myself, but I'm facing the one person that I'm not sure that I can beat. I've advanced through this competition facing my opponents one at a time and beat every one of them, even beating Harley in the semi-finals. And just my luck my final opponent is the person who I lost against in the Kanto Grand Festival just last year, not to mention its champion as well, Solidad.

I looked at the battlefield in front of me. The contest battle has already started and it's about half-way done; I have chosen my first and strongest Pokémon, Blaziken. Solidad on the other hand has chosen her Pidgeot. I'll have to thank Drew at some point down the road for exhausting her Lapras in their own semi-final round. While I was in no way thinking that this battle with her Pidgeot would be easy, I'm relieved that I don't have to go up against that powerhouse of her's again.

Then again it could have been a blessing considering how fast that Pidgeot is. The whole battle so far has been nothing but me trying to mount a counter-offensive, or at least it's supposed to be a counter-offensive. At the moment it looks more like Blaziken is just throwing fire into thin air as her Pokémon just dodges everything effortlessly All the while she has been hitting almost every other hit on me. I in comparison have yet to land a single attack on her, whenever Pidgeot gets close enough, the dang bird is just able to dodge it and turn it into her advantage.

"Come on Blaziken, we just need to find a move that'll work!" I yell out to my now tiring starter. Taking a quick glance at the timer I can see that there is no more than a minute and a half left in this battle and while I'm at about half of my points Solidad has barely lost any.

"What can I do Eevee?" I asked the small Pokémon on my shoulder as Blaziken dodged another of Pidgeot's attacks by only a hair, the attacks were getting more accurate with each pass. "I was always able to come up with a good strategy when facing one of my rivals before, but I'm just drawing a blank."

Eevee just looked at me, and hung her head giving off a quiet "Vee." She knew the problem that I was in and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"I bet I could think of one if he was here. Those ridiculous strategies of his always seem to work out in the end. Not to mention that for some reason I've always seemed to be been able to keep a cool head when he's cheering for me. Too bad that he isn't here right now; I could really use that for at least one more battle."

For some reason a smile just formed on my face as my eyes closed and just seemed to take in the sounds of the stadium. The timer clicking away seemed to just take forever as I just let myself drown in the many different voices that filled the stadium. Just before I gave into the fact that I would lose this battle once again and settle for second place I thought I could pick out a single voice in the multitudes of others that accompanied it. I don't know why I was able to make out this single voice nor was I able to even tell if it was cheering for or against me but it seemed so familiar. I could only give a short laugh as an owner of this supposed voice just appeared into my head.

"Oh boy this is getting bad," I continued to say to Eevee. "Now I'm starting to hear his voice in my head. I know for a fact that he wouldn't be here just after completing his own competition. My mind is just playing tricks on me."

But even trying to push this illusion from my head wasn't working. The more I tried to get rid of it the stronger it would come back. Eventually I could feel myself starting to relax as the voice echoed through my head again, by this time any resistance I had to ignoring it completely vanished. Almost instinctively I found myself reaching up and taking hold of my good luck charm, a contest ribbon with a pink and white bow that I had attached to a gold necklace. Well to be more specific it was only half of a ribbon. I usually kept it under my shirt so that no one would laugh at me for wearing something as simple like this, but to my mind this was no ordinary ribbon. This is my connection to one of the best friends that I've ever had, and as long as I had this I knew that he was still cheering for me from wherever he was.

"Oh well, if my brain is going through so much trouble just to put on this charade I might as well go out with a bang." I finally say as I could feel my determination coming back. "Shall we?"

"Vee!"

Looking back at the timer I see that it just passed the one minute mark. Moving my focus back to the battle I could see that Blaziken was still in trouble. I had to think of something good, and I needed it now. And of course what came to mind was almost too reminiscent of the one who could be best descried as my mentor.

"You know May if you want to give up you should at least say it out loud. At least that way your Pokémon won't suffer." It was Solidad; I'm not sure if she wanted that to be some kind of taunt or if she was thinking of Blaziken's well being. It was more than likely the latter, but either way what I had in mind could completely change the scores. If I could pull it off that is.

"Not a chance," I yelled back. "We're going to win this aren't we Blaziken?"

"Blaze!" My starter yelled as she got to her feet.

I could barely make out a smile forming on Solidad's face. "Well if you're that determined don't let me try to change your mind. But determination alone can only take you so far."

"If you desire something enough and work hard to reach it there is nothing that can keep you from your goals. It was that lesson that I learned over the first couple years of my journey." Turning back to the battle I knew that it was now or never. "Blaziken lets show them just how far determination can take us! Bulk up and get the fires ready!"

The Blaze Pokémon went silent for a moment as she slipped into a seemingly meditative state, closing her eyes in the process.

"I like your spirit May but I'll show you who the real winners of this battle are. Pidgeot we're finishing this, take it out with one last Brave Bird." Solidad called out, the smile never leaving her face.

The large tan and brown bird that was hovering in the sky just a moment ago let out a loud call and started into a backwards loop, a blue aura just starting to appear around its body. By the time it finished the loop it was completely covered by that blue aura and speeding straight for Blaziken, just like I wanted. But to make my plan work I needed to do this at the right time; too early and she might call off the attack, too late and I would lose this battle.

Just moments before the powerful attack hit I found my chance. "Alright Blaziken, grab that overgrown pigeon!"

Opening her eyes Blaziken let out a fearsome cry of her own as all the muscles around her body started to bulge with a newfound strength and the flames around her claws lit up with a brilliant orange-red color. In less than a blink of eye Blaziken grabbed onto Pidgeot's wings, the force of the attack pushing her back several feet before finally digging in and allowing her to hold her ground against the attack. The Brave Bird aura that surrounded Pidgeot slowly faded and the bird started to wince in pain as the aftereffects of the recoil started to take effect. Although I could tell that even with the successful counterattack Blaziken was still hurting from the impact.

As the blue aura around her Pokémon started to diminish Solidad's eyes started to grow very wide. "How…did…you… never mind, Pidgeot use Wing Attack to break free."

Try as it might there was little chance that the bird would break the grip that Blaziken had, especially with the little boost that she got just moments before. But it wasn't over just yet. "Blaziken surround yourself with Fire Spin, it's time to take the offensive!"

Blaziken's eyes started to glow a faint red, opening her beak wide as a ball of fire started to take form as the elemental fury of her kind was about to be unleashed. But that wasn't all that happened, as the ball formed Blaziken's entire body started to glow red and in that instant the two of them were engulfed in a gigantic pillar of red hot flame.

"Blaze." I whispered as a smile started to form on my face. My chances of winning this battle just got better, I could feel my energy coming back as the realization started to sink in. "I really can win this!" I yelled out as the audience was still enthralled by the shifting fires that covered almost half of the field.

"Pidgeot use Hyper Beam to break out of its hold then blow the fires away with Whirlwind!" I could hear Solidad desperately shout out from the other side of the Fire Spin.

"Not this time, Blaziken finish this off with a Blaze Kick straight to the ground!"

I could feel a resounding thud passing through the earth as the fire started to dissipate. I could tell that everyone's eyes were glued on that one spot as a figure was finally seen in the bright light of from the fire. But just before everything vanished a glowing brown and tan blur sped out of the flames and in a dramatic unfurling of its wings blew out the embers on its body before starting to hover in midair.

"It can't be…" I looked over at Blaziken to see that she was on one knee breathing heavily. Although taking another look at Pidgeot it was obvious that it wasn't in much better shape. It had scorch marks all over its body, with the largest one covering most of its back, and the great crest that was the trademark of its species was half way burned off. It was just barely able to keep itself in the air, let alone battle. Either way I had to think fast, both Pokémon were on their last bit of endurance and we had to come out of this ahead.

My thoughts of the outcome of the battle were cut short by the sound of the buzzer signaling the end of the battle. Immediately I found myself looking up at the scoreboard. My last minute strategy apparently worked very well, but not well enough. From the look of it we were both sitting at about a third of our points left; not only that but as far as I could tell we were exactly even.

The loud speakers clicked on and the voice of the announcer filled the stadium. "Ladies and Gentlemen we have come to the end of the final round of the Johto Grand Festival and at the moment it appears that we have a tie. We ask for your patience while our judges confer on this. We'll be sure to announce their decision as soon as it comes."

"Well we were able to get to this point, now it's up to the judges to decide who wins." I say to Eevee as I collapsed on the ground and returned Blaziken to her Pokéball. Eevee jumped down into my lap and as was her usual started to wiggle her way into a comfortable position. Even after all that I couldn't help but smile at my little Evolution Pokémon before turning to the Pokéball in my hand. "You did a great job out there Blaziken, even if I had a horrible start."

Putting Blaziken's Pokéball away, I could see Solidad pretty much doing the same thing with her Pidgeot. "Well Eevee, it's up to fate now. Although I wonder why I all of a sudden started to think of him, not to mention that it's been quite a few months since I last saw him. Come to think of it I wonder how he is doing after the Sinnoh League, last I heard he was…"

"Ladies and Gentleman we thank you for your patience on this matter." The loudspeaker announced as the stadium once again fell into a hush.

"That didn't take long. Guess that discussion is best left for later." I said to myself as I got to my feet. Eevee wasn't all that thrilled about my sudden movements as she tumbled off of her favorite spot to nap. Shaking her head to get her bearings the little Pokémon gave me what could amount to a death stare, even if at first glance it looked like it was coming from a cute stuffed animal. So in the end all it made me do was giggle, which of course didn't really help the situation.

"Vee."

"Sorry Eevee kinda forgot that you were there." I apologized as I held out my arm. "But I do have an excuse this time," I continued as she pranced up my arm back onto my shoulder. As the announcer came on again I looked up to the big screen to see both my picture and Solidad's.

"Sorry for the wait, but after much deliberation the judges have come to a decision regarding the conclusion of the last battle. The victor of the final battle and winner of the Johto Grand Festival is May Maple!"

I could barely believe my eyes and ears as I could see my picture become the centerpiece of the display and the word "Congratulations" appear next to it.

"We did it," It came out as barely a whisper as the realization struck home. "We really did it."

"We would like to congratulate Miss May Maple on her win today, and would like to invite everyone here to the awards ceremony tomorrow morning."

I really wasn't listening to the announcer anymore; it took all of my effort just to try and stay civilized and not just yell out everything that I felt right then.

"Vee."

I looked up to see why Eevee was trying to say only to see Solidad walking up to me. Holding out her hand she gave a big smile.

"You really surprised me out there May, at one point I seriously thought that you completely gave up on the battle. But you proved me wrong and came back in a spectacular show. You truly deserve the title."

Accepting her gesture I reached out and shook her hand. "Thanks Solidad, that really was a hard battle. That last set of combos was the only thing that saved me in the end."

"Either way you won fair and square. I'll be looking forward to our next match."

I was going to reply but out of the corner of my eye I could see Eevee's ears perk up and twitch a couple times. "What's up Eevee?" I asked the now alert little Pokémon. Without even giving me so much as a warning, she jumped off of my shoulder and started running towards the trainer prep rooms. "Sorry to cut this short but I have to go catch that little trouble maker." Turning around I started to chase after my traveling companion. "Eevee wait up! Where the heck are you going off to?"

* * *

"Eevee where did you run off to?"

My little Pokémon disappeared into the trainer prep room only seconds before me but she was still able to keep out of my sight. As I was looking under one of the benches I could hear the door to the room open as someone walked it. I gave a long sigh as I realized how I must have looked to whoever this person is.

"_Oh great, now I have to explain why the new Johto Grand Festival Champion is crawling around on the floor."_ But as the thought crossed my mind I could hear the person laughing as he entered the room.

"Alright alright, I get it. I'm happy to see you too Eevee, now can you stop that? It's starting to tickle. So where is your trainer anyways? I need to congratulate her on her latest victory."

"_Wait a minute, I know that voice."_

"Ash!" In my moment of excitement I completely forgot where I was, because moments later I felt a jabbing pain on the top of my head as bone met wood. It took everything that I had to keep from yelling out loud, but that's not to say that is didn't hurt though. I sat down on the ground, forgetting everything but the annoying throbbing sensation.  
"You okay May?"

After trying to rub some of the initial pain away I finally look up at one of my best friends and his ever-present partner now looking down at me, and you wouldn't guess who was occupying his right shoulder. None other than my little mischief maker herself, Eevee.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asked while offering me a hand.

"Looking for the stowaway on your shoulder." I answered while accepting his outstretched hand. "It's nice to see you again Ash."

"It's nice to see you too May. But when you mentioned my stowaway, did you mean this one?" He nodded to Eevee as he pulled me up. "She ran out to meet us right after you finished your match, although she seemed happier to see Pikachu than me."

Getting to my feet and dusting myself off I turned at his seemingly odd comment. "What makes you say that?"

"Well for one as soon as she saw us Eevee tackled Pikachu right off of my shoulder." He stated with a chuckle. "That little thing has a good amount of power in it."

"I know the feeling; I've been on the receiving end of a few of those myself. I can't really say why she did such a thing but anyways, sorry about that Pikachu." I say turning to the occupant on Ash's opposite shoulder.

Scratching the back of his head with one of his paws Pikachu just gave a sheepish "Pika."

"So can you forgive us Pikachu?" I asked while lightly scratching him underneath his chin, although with that being the one of the two spots he can't resist I already knew the answer.

"Chaa." I was right, he melted into my touch and not long after jumped into my arms making himself comfortable in the process.

"Well that didn't take long," I said with a smile as he cooed in my arms. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Eevee glaring at me for some reason. "What's with that look Eevee? _Sigh _What are you mad about this time?"

"Vee." She huffed defiantly while turning her head away. But not long after she curled up into Ash's shoulder and going quiet again.

I could only shake my head at my moody Evolution Pokémon. "Even after all this time that we have spent together I still don't know what makes your little mind tick when it come to some of your actions, at least can you think of anything Ash?"

"Can't say that I can either, but either way we better meet up with Dawn soon, I told her that I would only be coming in here quick to bring you out."

"Wait, Dawn is with you as well?"

"Yes and we better be going. She won't be too happy for how long we made her wait."

"Knowing her I'd believe it. Besides, I need to catch up with her as well. It's been too long since we last talked."

"I think that she wants to talk to you as well, especially now. After all, winning a Grand Festival after only three tries is a great accomplishment. I'm proud to say that you were once one of my traveling companions and that I knew you from when you first started with nothing but your Torchic."

I have no clue why but I could feel my face start to heat up as he continued to talk. "Although I don't think that I deserve that much praise, thanks Ash." I said with a smile.

"Well I'm going to go catch up with Dawn. We'll meet you outside the main gate, okay?"

"Sure, I'll see ya there." As he ran out the door I could feel Pikachu move a bit in my arms. "Looks like you're with me for a little while Pikachu." I say looking down at him.

"Pika!" Crawling out of my arms he nimbly climbed up onto my shoulder. "Chaa," he cooed as he rubbed his cheek on mine.

"Hey, cut it out." I couldn't help but laugh out. "So you're the one I have to thank for teaching that to Eevee. While I can't say that I hate it, it does get her out of way too many situations."

"Hey May!"

"Huh?" As the door to the prep room closed behind me I looked up to see who was calling my name. And to no surprise the first thing that I saw was the green hair of one of my longest rivals walking towards me. "Oh, hi Drew."

"Just wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your Grand Festival win," he said with a big smile. "And to give you this." He added pulling a rose out of seemingly nowhere.

"Um thanks Drew." I stuttered slightly as I accepted the rose. I could feel myself start to blush again from his actions, "but sorry to say that you weren't the first one to congratulate me."

"I wasn't? Dang, well I should have known someone would beat me to it." He looked as if he was thinking a bit, but it didn't take long for his eyes to fall upon my new passenger. "Since when did you have a Pikachu May? And on that note, what happened to Eevee? Isn't that her spot?"

"Oh this little guy?" I asked gesturing to Pikachu, who for some reason hadn't taken his eyes off of Drew since he appeared, "He's actually not mine. You remember Ash right? This is actually his, at the moment he has Eevee."

"And why is that?" He asked. I'm not really sure why but I think I could tell that his tone of voice had changed a bit. At first he was his normal slightly narcissistic self but now it was almost as if he was insistent on getting the answer.

"Its nothing all that major, Eevee ran off after my battle and after I ran after her I bumped into Ash. He had both Eevee and Pikachu with him, as we talked Pikachu jumped into my arms and made himself comfortable. After that Ash had to go find one of our friends that was waiting for us, and in the process he forgot Pikachu and left with Eevee. I was just on my way to go meet up with them."

"Oh that's all." He said giving what sounded like a sigh of relief. "So Ketchum was the one who beat me to congratulating you first, wasn't he?"

"No actually it was Solidad who was the first; it was right after the battle that she congratulated me." Looking down at my Pokétch I was surprised at how much time had passed. "Sorry to cut this short Drew but I really need to meet up with Ash and Dawn. I'll probably talk to you later." As I turned to walk away I remembered something that I wanted to do. "Oh and Drew, thanks for your help in the finals."

"Help? How so?"

"If you wouldn't have exhausted Solidad's Lapras in the semi-finals this battle might have had a completely different outcome."

"Oh," he said while straightening his posture. "It was my pleasure. I'm glad that I could help you out."

"Right. See ya later Drew." As I walked away I could feel Pikachu relax and start to cuddle into my neck again. "That was an odd conversation, and you seemed to be a little tense there as well. What don't like Drew all that much?"

"Pi." Was his only response while turning his head away.

"Not really sure why you would feel that way but I will say that he does creep me out at times as well." I say while looking down at the rose in my hand. Smiling I started to scratch Pikachu in between the ears.

Once again melting into my touch he let out a soft yet satisfied "Chaa."

"_And that would be spot number two that he just can't resist."_

"At least it's easy to please you. No matter, now we better go meet up with Ash and Dawn before the latter gets too impatient."

"Pika!"

* * *

And there it is; I hope that everyone enjoyed it. The next chapter should be out in two or three days. As always please review, I enjoy hearing everyone's opinion of my work.


	2. The Dangers of Shopping

Well it seems that I haven't lost my touch in my four months of absence from writing seeing as how the first chapter has already gotten some success. In one chapter it already has more favorites than my last story. Oh well, thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. Enjoy chapter two.

* * *

"Pikapi!"

"Hey Ash, Dawn!" I yelled as I ran up to meet them.

"May!" Dawn yelled as she ran up to me and brought me into a big hug. "Congratulations May! At least one of us was able to win their Grand Festival."

"Piplup, pip." Her little blue penguin Pokémon added from the top of her head.

"Thanks Dawn, thanks Piplup" I said as I returned the hug. "So what place did you take in the Sinnoh's Grand Festival?"

"I only got into the top 16."

"For your first try that's pretty good."

"That's what I keep on saying but you never listen." Ash added.

"What did you get in your first Grand Festival?" Dawn asked completely ignoring Ash. I could see Ash sigh a bit as he turned away a bit, I couldn't help but let out a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Dawn asked again with a completely clueless look on her face.

"Nothing," I waved it off. "But actually I was in the top eight when I competed in the Hoenn Festival."

"See? I knew that it; I didn't do well after all."

"That's not true Dawn," I continued while trying to console the girl. "Think of how many people entered the festival. Most of them were first time attendees as well, but there were only 16 of them that can claim what you can."

"I guess you're right."

"Oh sure I've been telling you that for the past week and you didn't believe me. Now May says it once and you believe her instantly." Ash once again added in.

"So May where do you want to go?" Dawn asked, returning to her usual peppy mood and once again completely ignoring Ash's comment. Ash just let out yet another big sigh.

"I didn't have any real plans from this point on except for the awards ceremony tomorrow."

"Then lets go shopping in celebration of your new position, and then we can go out to eat as well."

"Shopping!" Ash and I said at the same time. I looked over at him as he did the same. I could once again feel my face start to heat up, at I looked at him. I quickly turned away. Although we might have said the same thing at the same time, how we said it was completely different. While I was shouting for the joy and thrill of the activity, Ash's sounded more like one of fear.

"What's the matter Ash? Don't like shopping?" I teased him, finally getting over my unknown reasons for suddenly blushing.

"Not in the way that I know you two will want to do it. A 'shopping trip' should be nothing more than going in, get what you're buying, purchase it, and leave. Simple and painless. I have no clue why you girls have this idea in your head that such a trip is supposed to be a day long experience."

"Oh come on Ash." I said while grabbing one of his arms.

"It'll be fun." Dawn added while grabbing his other arm.

"Piplup!" Dawn's starter seemed just as eager to go shopping as its trainer.

"Pika pika Pikapi." I could hear Pikachu say from my shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're in league with them as well Pikachu." Ash said as he tried to back away.

"Vui." Eevee added in rubbing her cheek against his.

"Not you too Eevee, and here I thought that we were finally bonding." He pouted. "Great, so now I'm completely out voted. Guess I don't have much of a choice now do I?"

"Nope." Both Dawn and I said with a smile.

* * *

"Not that I'm complaining or anything Pikachu, but how come you haven't gone back to Ash's shoulder just yet?"

We were already at one of the largest malls in the Silver League Complex and the two of us were dragging Ash in and out of virtually any and every shop that we could find. But there was one thing that was I was slightly questioning my mind, ever since we left to start the shopping trip. Eevee has stayed on Ash's shoulder the entire time while Pikachu stayed on mine.

"Pika, pikachu pi pika pika Pikachu."

"Right, Ash could I get a translation?"

Trying to stay away from Dawn and I, yet still stay in within sight, Ash was leaning up against one of walls just watching and listening to what we were doing. "Well from what I can tell he said that Eevee has been acting a little weird lately and that he just wants his space."

"Vee?" Looking over I could see Eevee staring at me, or I guess it could have been at Pikachu as well, she had a very sad look in her eyes. After only a few seconds she crawled down into Ash's arms and seemed to just try and make herself comfortable.

"Don't think of it in the bad way Eevee," Ash said as he comforted the ball of fur that was currently pushing her way further into his arms. "Pikachu is probably just a little cautious after your initial greeting today. Give him time and he'll open up again to you again, I'm sure of it."

"Pika…" Looking back over at my current passenger I could tell that he wasn't all that all that thrilled about Eevee's reaction to his comment as he tried to cuddle back into my neck.

"Don't worry Pikachu," I whispered into his ear as I pet him. "If I know Eevee it won't take too long for this to blow over. Until then you are welcome to stay here with me."

"Pikachu." He replied softly while giving a small lick to my cheek.

"I'll just assume that that meant thank you. Now back to the task at hand, we need to see how many sales that we can find in this store!" I could hear Ash let out and audible groan as he heard what I said. "Why are you complaining? All you have to do is stand there and watch."

"Sure you say that now, but in a few hours I'll be the one carrying around everything that you two deemed necessary to buy."

I don't know why, but at that moment an idea just seemed to pop into my head. Usually something like this would be beyond the range of things that I would do and even the fact that I thought of something like this surprised me. But with the way that Ash had been acting since we got here I figured that having a little fun wasn't out of the question. Digging into one of the bags of clothes that I already bought I found what I was looking for.

"So then what do you think of these then, are they a necessity Ash?" I asked with a large smile on my face as I held up a pair of pink underwear with a Pikachu print on them.

"Ah…well…I guess…How should I know anything about that!" I could see him getting very flustered and his face was turning a bright red. I couldn't help but laugh at what I did. Dawn and Piplup, looking over and realizing what happened, joined in the laughter as well; even Pikachu couldn't help but laugh at his trainer's modesty. Some of the other customers looked over at us with unapproving glances.

"I'm sorry Ash, I just could resist myself." I could barely get out as I started to control my laughter. "But you really need to lighten up. We're supposed to be having fun after this long away from each other."

"Well at this point what you consider fun isn't so much for me." He shot back, still obviously flustered from my little joke. "In fact it's rather embarrassing."

"I'm sorry Ash but you put yourself in such a good position for it." I said as I walked up to him, finally stopping my laughing spree. "I didn't mean any harm out of it, just nothing more than a joke between good friends. Can I at least say I'm sorry?"

"Alright, I forgive you. Just please don't do that again. You should know how I am in those types of situations."

"No problem, it's just that I thought that you would be able to handle something as simple as this after being on the road for so long." Before I went back to the clothes racks I made sure to give him a quick hug, being careful not to crush Eevee in the process. And yet for some reason the blush on his face still lingered, even this long after the joke. "But you still haven't answered my question Ash?"

"Question?" He tentatively asked.

"You never answered if you like them or not." I don't know when it first started but I found that I enjoyed teasing Ash on various subjects; ones like these seemed to be the most fun.

"Well…they…I…"

Shaking my head I signaled that he didn't need to continue. Revealing another big smile, I had the perfect idea to deal with this. "Don't worry you don't need to answer that one Ash."

"Wait, I don't?"

"Nope," I said as nonchalantly as I could while starting to walk back to the racks. But half way back I made sure to pause and look back at him. "I can always ask your other half."

"Other half? Wait a minute, do you mean?" I nodded. "But why him? Pikachu doesn't know anything about clothes." I'm not really sure if he was trying to get me to ask him the question again to keep it away from Pikachu or to try and avoid the question completely. My guess would be the latter but no matter which one it was I could see a slight tinge of red start to appear into his cheeks.

"That my be so, but after spending time with one another a Pokémon starts to take on some of the traits of its trainer. This would be even more so between you and Pikachu considering that he is never in his Pokéball and spends the entire day on your shoulder."

"But still, why you would ask Pikachu?"

Even though I wasn't showing it, part of me was starting to become slightly annoyed by the fact that he wouldn't just answer it. _"This may have originally been a joke, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't like an answer. I mean he's one of my best friends, not just some random acquaintance, so this shouldn't be that big of a deal to answer. Besides it's not as if it wasn't a little embarrassing for me as well. The least he could do is answer it, especially since I did all this just to cheer him up."_

"Actually I think that better question at this point is why not? So Pikachu," I started while once again turning to my passenger. "Did you like them?"

"Pika." He nodded his head with a smile and not even a hint of hesitation. Looking back I could see the red in Ash's cheeks turn a deeper color as he turned his head away.

"Thank you Pikachu, remember girls always enjoy getting compliments." I said as I rubbed him between the ears again, and as always he melted right into my touch giving a satisfied coo in the process. "Well back to work. We only have a little bit more time in this store before we have to move on."

Getting back to the multitudes of clothes I continued to look through them trying to find anything that would look good on me. Although even if part of my mind was focusing on what was in front of me the other part was still thinking about what just happened.

"Well that did nothing but embarrass me," I whispered to Pikachu as I moved to another rack of clothes. "The worst part is I'm not even sure why I did that; I mean I just showed him and nearly half the store my own underwear! Granted I haven't even taken them out of the mall yet but still, it was a spur of the moment type of thing and I just couldn't resist. I've teased him many times before when we still traveled together but that was only because he had no clue about anything related to love. Not that I really know all that much myself considering that I have yet to experience it, but he's so dense on the subject it's unbelievable."

"Pika pika." He nodded, although in the back of my mind I couldn't help but wonder how much my little friend was similar to his trainer.

"At least you seem to have a good grasp on the concept. So do you have your eye on anyone Pikachu?"

"Pi?" He froze before giving a nervous chuckle. "Pika kachu pika pikachu chu Pikapi."

"I didn't understand what you said but it does seem that the Pokémon has a bit more maturity than his trainer." Looking back at Ash I could see him on the far wall. I could just make out the fact that he was talking to Eevee and she was apparently listening intently. I thought that I could also barely still see the light red shade that was on his cheeks, for some reason I couldn't help but smile at the scene. "Though I do have to admit it was funny to watch his reaction. It was so predictable; and he does look cute whenever it happens."

I completely stopped as the words escaped my mouth. I could see that Pikachu was looking at me as well, though it was one more of curiosity than anything else. "Did I actually say that?"

"Pika."

Shaking my head a bit I couldn't believe that those words even came out of my mouth. "Not really sure what that was about, I must have just gotten caught up in the moment. Sure he has supported me all this time and I've always found it easier to concentrate in contests when he's cheering for me, but still he's my best friend and nothing more." Looking back at him I could feel my face start to heat up and quickly looked back at the clothes that were in front of me. "He's my best friend, nothing more." I repeated, "and nothing less."

"So what was that all about?"

I jumped a bit as I heard someone whisper into my ear. Quickly turning around I saw that it was Dawn, but she had this odd grin on her face.

"What was what about?" I spat out with my face growing even hotter.

"You know, that little scene with you and Ash a minute ago."

"Oh that," I gave a small sigh as the tension from the initial surprise started to fade as I realized what she was actually talking about.

"Yes that. What else would there be to talk about?"

"Nothing." I said rater quickly.

"If you say so."

I doubt that she actually completely believed me, but as long as she didn't hear anything that I was saying to Pikachu I'd be fine. Besides it was nothing more than a slip of tongue. Ya that's it, I got caught up in the moment of teasing him and it just came out.

"Um, Earth to May?"

"Huh?"

"You were spacing out on me. But never mind that, I just want to know what exactly transpired for that to happen."

"Right the underwear thing. I guess he just set himself up for it and I just couldn't resist."

"Set himself up for it?"

"I don't remember his exact words but it was something along the lines of 'buying what we considered necessary', for some reason that idea just seemed to pop into my head to embarrass him to high heaven and I couldn't resist it. And well, you saw the results."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "So you did that just on an impulse to embarrass him?"

"I guess, I really don't have a better explanation than that. But you have to admit that his face was pretty priceless."

Dawn looked as if she was trying to suppress her laughter, no doubt as the picture of Ash at that moment crossed her mind, but in the end she still let out a soft giggle "Ya it was priceless, but I still say that there is more to this than you're letting on whether you know it or not. Because I for one know that I would find some other way to make fun of him than by showing him my underwear."

I could feel my face start to heat up again as she finished.

"I mean it isn't all that hard to get Ash like that using other methods. And because of this I have to ask, is there anything going on between you and Ash?"

By this point my face felt like it was on fire more than just a warm sensation. Thoughts of my use of the word "cute" on him came back into the front of my mind, and they didn't want to leave. "Of course not!" I said a little too loudly. I quickly put my hands in front of my mouth and looked over to where he was sitting. I gave a quick sigh as I could see that he hadn't moved or even shifted from my little outburst. "Of course not." I repeated quite a bit softer, "we're just friends. Best friends, but nothing more."

"If you say so May." Dawn said with a big smile as she started to walk away. "I believe you, but now we should continue moving. We still have a lot of ground to cover."

"I'm starting to not like that smile Pikachu." I whispered to the little mouse once Dawn was out of earshot.

"Pika pika." Looking over I could see that he was a little timid after it as well.

"Can you keep that little slip up a secret Pikachu? I don't want Ash getting the wrong ideas."

Pikachu cocked his head a bit and the reason why seemed to hit me pretty fast.

"Oh no no no, that's not what I meant to say." I nervously said as I shook my head a bit. "What I meant to say was I don't want him thinking that those words came from me. I mean it's not as if he's ugly or anything its quite opp…"

I could feel myself about to do it again, but this time I was able to stop before the mistake came out again. Taking a deep breath I decided that it was best not to really go on with that.

"You know what I think I'll just stop there before it slips yet again. But do we have a deal?"

"Chu." He cooed as he rubbed against my neck a bit.

"Thanks Pikachu."

* * *

"I told you that this would happen."

"You didn't say anything of the sort."

"Yes actually I did, and this just proves it."

"You can say it all you want but that won't make it true"

It was about an hour after we finally stopped shopping and as the three of us were walking from the mall to find some restaurant to finally rest and eat. I was walking behind Ash and Dawn as they were having a small argument, one that Ash was obviously the winner but Dawn just wouldn't let down. I kinda felt bad for Eevee because she was still sitting in the middle of it, well on top of Ash's head to be a bit more exact seeing as how his shoulders where a little crowded. I would be feeling sorry for Piplup as well but there were moments where it would join in with its trainer in berating Ash, so she was actually somewhat enjoying the argument.

"Guess Dawn wasn't listening when Ash made his comment about being the one to carry all the bags." I started up a conversation with Pikachu to pass the time as those two continued to argue. "Although I will say that even if he was the one who made the prediction, it did come true. Ash was being real nice when he offered to carry some of my heavier bags, and even then he wasn't very outward with it. But as soon as he offered to take even some of my bags Dawn pretty much forced him to take all of her's as well. Do they always act like this?"

"Pika pika."

"Figures. They bicker like they were brother and sister or something. I just hope that they don't forget where we're headed." Sighing I just let them continue with their pointless argument.

"So do you have anywhere that would like to eat Pikachu? With those two preoccupied like that I'd be willing to bet that until Ash's stomach interrupts them they won't even…"

A quiet rumbling was then heard as Ash and Dawn's discussion come to an abrupt end.

"Speak of the devil." I muttered under my breath.

I could hear Pikachu quietly laughing, most likely from my little comment. Quickening my pace a bit I caught up to the two of them with ease.

"I have to admit that while watching you two argue over the smallest things I think I have to agree with Ash's stomach that there are more important things to concentrate on."

Looking over I could see that Ash was blushing a bit, no doubt from all of a sudden becoming the center of attention for all the wrong reasons. But then again he has been doing that quite often lately so it really wasn't too different than usual.

"In that case how about we head into the next place that we find to eat something, Ash isn't the only one who is getting hungry. And sorry to go against you Dawn, but Ash did say that earlier." I finished off.

"Thank you May. See I told you that I said it." Ash said defiantly as he turned back to Dawn. Dawn looked as if she was about to say something but was quickly cut off by Ash. "Hey I've heard that they sell great ramen here! Its decided then, we'll eat here."

Typical Ash, always thinking of his stomach. But there was one thing that I found curious. "Since when did you get enthusiastic about ramen?" I asked him. "I know that you usually aren't too picky about what you eat but knowing something specific like this doesn't seem like you."

"But you like ramen right?"

"Of course!" I said happily as the thought of which ramen to order started to circulate in my head. "I've yet to try a type of ramen that I don't like."

"What better reason do I need than that?" He asked with a smile. "Now come on, I'm hungry and my shoulders are starting to hurt."

As he walked into the restaurant Dawn followed right behind him, but not before giving me a big smile. But it wasn't just any smile; it was the same one that she made earlier while we were shopping. And as before that smile made my mind start to wonder why I felt so odd about it.

"Is it just me or did I miss something in there?" I asked Pikachu.

"Pi." He shrugged his little shoulders.

"At least I'm not the only one who doesn't understand her, and you've known her longer than I have." I could hear my own stomach give off a soft growl. "But then again why worry about stuff like this on an empty stomach. All this talk about ramen has just reminded me that I'm getting hungry as well. Besides I'm probably not the only one here that is getting hungry, am I right?"

The only response I got out of him was a sheepish smile.

"The apple never falls far from the tree." I say with a laugh. "Let's get going then; those two will start to wonder what's keeping us."

* * *

Well there it is. As always please review. I should be keeping my usual update schedule of about every two days for the rest of the story, so until then thanks for reading.


	3. To the Victor Go the Spoils

Well not much to say except thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. As promised here's the next chapter.

* * *

"Ah Shōyu, my favorite type of ramen." I say as I sipped up another collection of noodles. "Want to try some Pikachu?"

"Pi." He nodded as I grabbed some more noodles from the bowl. He crawled over to the bowl and started to slurp up the noodles as soon as my chopsticks got close enough.

"So what do you think, they're good aren't they?"

"Pika." He nodded again.

"You shouldn't spoil him too much like that May." I could hear Ash say from the other side of the table.

"Oh really? So am I just imagining you doing the same thing with Eevee?" I asked with a sly smile. "But it's your choice. Here you can snack on this for a little while." Grabbing a fish cake out of my bowl I gave it to the yellow mouse who happily accepted the gift before jumping back down onto my lap to eat his little morsel.

"You always spoiled Pikachu when we were still traveling together. Don't think that I didn't notice all the treats that you gave him."

"What can I say? He was always coming to me when we sat by the fire at night, I can only assume that he was coming to me to get a snack every once and a while. Though come to think of it there were plenty of times when he came to lay on my lap and just fell asleep before I even gave him anything."

"Well you would just have to ask him about why he did that, there are still things that he does that I don't completely understand." As Ash said this Eevee pawed his hand a bit, smiling he grabbed some of his noodles and gave them to Eevee who, like my current passenger, happily ate them.

"Sure you say that I shouldn't give Pikachu any of my ramen and then you turn around and give some to Eevee as soon as she asks. It's almost as if she's already trained you in this short amount of time."

"You never said anything about it, besides she seems to really like them."

"_Considering that I've sometimes sacrificed half of my bowl to her begging she better like them."_ I thought as I brought my chopsticks to my mouth again.

"So May, what are you planning to do after the awards ceremony tomorrow?" Dawn asked from next to Ash.

"I haven't really thought about it. I guess the next region that I have yet to visit is Sinnoh." As I said this I thought I could see Ash's smile start to fade a bit, but it must have just been my imagination as after I turned to get a better look he moved to grab some more noodles. "But I'm in no rush. I'll probably be going back home for a little while before heading out again. What about you two?"

"Ash and I will probably be heading back to Pallet after this, or at least this is the plan as of yet."

"Wait, why are you following Ash back to Pallet Town? Are you going with him on his next journey?" I'm not sure why I asked it, for some reason my mind wanted the answer and without thinking the words came out. I just hope in my little lapse that the words didn't come out in the wrong way.

Dawn cocked her eyebrow at me before continuing. "At the moment I don't think so. I'll probably head around the Kanto region seeing as how that's where Zoey and Kenny are headed for their next Grand Festival. Why ask?"

"No reason," I said while feeling surprisingly relaxed. "Do you think that I could come with you guys to Pallet? We still have a lot to catch up on and I should just be able to use the ferry service there, cause god knows that everything coming out of here is going to be booked for days."

"Of course you can join us May!" Both Dawn and I were caught of guard by Ash's little outburst. Looking a bit sheepish he continued in his usual tone. "Sorry, we'd be happy to have you travel with us for the trip back."

"Thanks you two." Taking the bowl and drinking the slightly salty brown broth that was left, my stomach felt satisfied. "Ahh, I think that's enough for now."

"After three bowls I hope that would be enough." Ash said with a laugh after he finished off his own bowl. I could feel myself start to blush in slight embarrassment.

"You really shouldn't be talking Ash." Dawn countered while laughing a bit herself. "That bowl that you just finished off was your third one as well. So you shouldn't be acting as if she was the only one who ate quite a bit."

"I was the only one who could ever come close to out eating you. Nobody else even came close." I say joining in on the laughter as Ash in turn started to blush a bit as well. "If it wasn't for Brock's cooking we would have gone broke with how much our group would have had to pay every restaurant. Speaking of which where is Brock anyways?"

"He's in Pewter City right now with his family, something about Forrest needing help with the gym. I don't really remember. He wanted to come and cheer you on as well and he regrets that he wasn't able to make it." Dawn stated as she got out some money to pay for the meal.

Holding up his hand to stop her, Ash started to grab his own wallet. "Don't worry about that Dawn; I'll take care of the bill for all of us."

"That's real nice of you Ash, thanks." I say to him as I got up and allowed Pikachu back onto my shoulder.

"That's funny; you've never offered to pay for my meal before. And now all of a sudden you're paying for it now that May's with us?" Dawn asked while putting her own wallet back into her bag.

Ash looked a little nervous, "Um, well it's because May just took first place in the Grand Festival. This is a celebration of her victory, so why wouldn't I?"

"So if I would have won my Grand Festival you would take me out to a place where I like to eat?"

"Of course I would."

It was nice of Ash to pay for my meal and everything but I kinda liked it better when it still seemed like he did it just because it was me and not just a gift for winning. But then again this was Ash we are talking about; he wouldn't do something like that for just anyone.

"_And there I go again, thinking about that side of Ash. But then again any girl would want that from a boy not necessarily from a boy that she thinks is cute."_ I stiffened up at that word again, even to the point of looking back to see if he heard anything. _"Get a grip on yourself May, you're starting to even think that he can listen in on your thoughts. Alright so I'll admit it, Ash is kinda cute. But then again I've met a few cute guys on my travels; the only difference is that I've known Ash longer than any of them."_

"Come on you two I want to get back to my hotel so that I can get some sleep for the awards ceremony tomorrow." I say back to them as they slowly got out of their seats and helping their passengers into position, Eevee in Ash's arms and Piplup sitting on Dawn's head. "Speaking of which where is your hotel room anyways? Considering that the Grand Festival is here it must have been near impossible to get a reservation."

"Actually it wasn't as hard as you might think." Dawn said as she and Ash walked up to me. "We did have a few nice perks to fall back on."

"What kind of perks?"

"Don't worry about it May." Dawn replied in a cheerful voice as she grabbed onto my arm. "Besides I'm getting tired as well, so let's go get some sleep."

"Hey wait a minute!" I yelled as Dawn dragged me out into the darkened streets. "I may be tired but I don't need your help walking to my hotel. Besides my hotel is the other way."

"Oh, well this is the way to our hotel so I just assumed that it was the same for your hotel."

"Hey you two wait up!" Looking back I saw Ash running up to us with Eevee tucked protectively in his arms. After waiting a second or two to catch his breath, he finally continued. "I don't know why you would think that May's hotel is this way Dawn. Her room is probably located in the Silver League Conference's private suites near the coliseum, right?"

"Yep," I replied after breaking Dawn's grip on my arm. "And because of my standings in the Kanto Grand Festival they gave me one of the better rooms."

"Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that you have a room in that big hotel right next to the coliseum?" Dawn blurted out. I only nodded. "You shouldn't have gotten us a room Ash! We could have stayed with her over there in luxury!"

"The brochure says that the one that we are staying in is second only to the private suites in the entire Silver Plateau complex, and those are reserved only for the top members of the tournament that is being held at that time. So it would be virtually impossible to stay there anyways." Ash informed the blue haired coordinator. "So stop complaining."

Looking slightly annoyed at the fact that she was just outspoken by Ash I could tell that her eyes started to wander from him to me and back again. A moment later something seemed to hit her as she quickly looked at both of us again. "Is there a reason that you've had Pikachu all day May? And on that point why did you have Eevee with you Ash?"

It's not as if the idea shocked me or anything, but the question of exactly why did stump me. "That's a good question Dawn, I'm not really completely sure myself. We accidentally swapped the two when Ash congratulated me after my match and in the end we never did give the two of them back. Pikachu just stayed on my shoulder the entire time and Eevee did the same with Ash."

"Pretty much the same explanation from me." He said while petting the small ball of brown fur in his arms. "And before I forget, here you might was this little one back." Handing Eevee over to me she quickly climbed into my arms, making herself comfortable.

"Vee." She let out a soft cry and gave a shy look over at Pikachu before closing her eyes and apparently trying to fall asleep.

Cocking his head a bit and with a somewhat worried expression on his face Pikachu crawled down into my arms as well.

"Pi?" He chimed in while rubbing his cheek against hers. I could feel Eevee's soft rhythmic breathing, signifying that she was already fast asleep.

"Don't worry Pikachu, there's nothing wrong with her. It just looks like she's a little tired."

"Come on Pikachu, it's time to go." Ash called out to him as they turned to walk to their own hotel.

"Pika." The mouse shook his head and crawled back up to my shoulder. "Pikachu chu pika kachu Pikapi." Ash looked a little shocked at what Pikachu said.

"What did Pikachu say Ash?" I asked him as I rubbed in between his partner's ears.

"Apparently Pikachu wants to go with you tonight." He said still somewhat confused.

"Did he say why?"

"Not that I can tell, he just basically told me that he was going to go with you tonight. He sounded fairly adamant about it too."

"So you want to come with me tonight Pikachu?"

"Pika." He nodded.

"Well the decision is up to you Ash, he is your Pokémon after all."

"I don't really see a problem with that if he is that certain about it." He answered while scratching his head a bit. "Besides it's not like it'll be that long until we see each other again. That is unless he'd be a nuisance to you."

"You don't need to worry about that; it's no problem at all." Considering everything that was now on the agenda for the next day I started to try and make somewhat of a plan. "So how about we meet up outside the trainer's prep room after the awards ceremony. Then the three of us can head down to Pallet right afterwards."

"I see no problem with that." Dawn piped in eagerly. Knowing Dawn she was probably feeling left out of our conversation and wanted to make sure that we wouldn't have forgotten about her. Typical for her, but she was straight to the point. I could feel a yawn trying to take hold as the thought of heading back for some sleep started to sound better and better.

"Sure that sounds good." Ash added, giving his trademark smile. "Guess we'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Pikachu, Eevee. Goodnight May, sweet dreams."

I could feel myself start to blush for some reason. Quickly trying to get rid of it I looked back at them. "Goodnight Dawn, goodnight Ash. Sweet dreams."

As they walked off to their hotel I could feel my heart start to beat a little faster than usual. _"Well that's not normal."_ I found myself thinking, but seeing no real reason at why this should be something to worry about it quickly went to the back of my mind.

"Alright you two," I said to my furry passengers. "Let's head back to my room so that we can get some sleep. We all have a big day tomorrow and a good night's sleep will do all of us good."

Starting to walk back to the suites I could see that Pikachu kept on taking quick glances at Eevee who was still sleeping in my arms.

"So she is the reason that you wanted to come with me tonight isn't it?" I asked the slightly surprised mouse. He gave a small nod, but he looked a little embarrassed by the fact. "Let me guess, you're worried about why she's been giving you the cold shoulder ever since her initial greeting. Am I right?"

Again he nodded although he still looked surprised that I was able to tell.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. I didn't say anything to Dawn but I was thinking that part of the reason that you two stayed away from each other was simply because of that little bit of animosity that Eevee had to your reaction to her greeting. While I will say that she did seem a bit too overeager than usual to meet up with you again, as was showed in her greeting tackle, don't think bad of her for it. She was apparently very happy to see you after all this time and what she got out of it was you trying to avoid her."

"Pika." He looked like the realization was just now completely hitting him, and it wasn't a pleasant one either.

"Don't let it get to you; Eevee isn't one to keep grudges all that easily. Besides after she sees that you are sorry for what happened she'll forgive you easily enough."

Looking up from the conversation I saw that the suites that I was staying at were right in front of me. Flashing my Festival ID card to the door man I went up to my room and put Eevee on the bed. Letting Pikachu down off of my shoulder onto the bed next to her, I grabbed some clean underwear and an oversized shirt for my usual nightwear and went into the bathroom.

* * *

"That shower felt really good." I announced after coming out of the bathroom. "Whoops."

I hushed up real quick after witnessing something that I wasn't expecting. Sitting on the foot of the bed were Pikachu and Eevee, both asleep. But what surprised me the most was that those two were curled up together, sleeping as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"_Now that's cute."_ I thought as I put my old clothes away. _"I wonder if this was Pikachu's doing or if it was Eevee's. But either way I think that Eevee will forget all about what happened today after waking up to this."_

Carefully getting into the bed while trying not to disturb the two of them I made myself comfortable as I could feel the hot shower start to take its affect on me. "Goodnight you two, see you in the morning."

* * *

I woke up the next morning to find the two of them still sleeping in the same position I saw them in when I fell asleep the night before. Still trying to keep from disturbing them I got up and grabbed some clothes to take my morning shower considering that currently my hair was a complete mess. And there is no way that I would go and accept the Johto Grand Festival trophy looking like I just got out of bed.

After my shower and another hour messing around with my hair I figured that it might be best to go with a new look after all this time. Instead of my usual look with having my hair stick out from the sides I decided to go with something a little bit simpler and just let my hair flow down onto my upper back with just my bangs on the front of my head.

"I hope everyone approves of this." I say to myself as I took one last look in the mirror before heading back into the bedroom.

"Vui!"

"Pika!"

As soon as I entered the bedroom I was surprised as the two previously sleeping Pokémon ran up to me and climbed up onto a shoulder, one for each of them. As soon as they got up onto their perches, both started to rub their cheeks onto mine.

"Hey, hey!" I got out in between laughs. "Pikachu you're a bad influence on her, stop please that tickles!"

After a few seconds they both stopped what they were doing and just sat there quietly with large smiles on their faces, as if nothing had happened at all.

"You're a bad influence on her in more ways than one," I said with a sigh. "Because I can guarantee that the two of you aren't an innocent as you currently look. But on a better note it seems as if you have been forgiven Pikachu."

"Pikachu." He nodded.

"And you are back in the same playful mood Eevee."

"Vee."

"Now that the two of you seem to be back to normal, good morning to the both of you. Are you ready to come up to accept my trophy with me?"

"Vee!"

"Pi?"

While Eevee was obviously excited to finally be able to go and receive my first true Ribbon Cup, Pikachu looked a little hesitant.

"It's not a problem is it Pikachu? We won't be seeing Ash until after the ceremony so you're going to have to stay with me until then. Do come with us to get our trophy?"

"Pika." He nodded with a big smile on his face.

"Now that's the Pikachu that I know."

"Vee." As I heard her give a satisfied coo I could tell that she was playing with some of my hair. Looking over I could see her using one of her paws to bat at a few of the strands that kept on falling down into her face.

"So I take it that you like the new style Eevee?"

"Eve." She said playfully as another strand of hair was batted away.

"Then how about you Pikachu, do you approve?"

"Pi." He said with a nod.

"Well at least that's two that like it." I say as I tied my bandanna back onto my head. I also made sure not to forget my lucky charm, grabbing it off of the dresser I took great care in putting it back on and tucking it beneath my shirt. Unless it was my imagination Pikachu seemed to be quite interested in it as well, but there were more important things to think about. Stealing one last look in the mirror to make sure that everything was perfect I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to welcome you all to the Johto Grand Festival Awards Ceremony. It's a beautiful day today and it's perfect for what we have here. But the real stars of this show are our participants. Give them a round of applause."

I took a deep breath as the music started to play and I walked out into the stadium with all the other participants of this year's contest, Pikachu and Eevee still situated on my right and left shoulders respectively. As soon as the first of us made it into the stadium the deafening roar of the stadium hit my ears. I let out a soft giggle as Pikachu pulled his ears down to try and drown out the noise. In contrast Eevee seemed to be loving all the noise, looking every which way at the spectators of the filled stadium.

When the whole group of us made it into the center of the stadium, we turned to face the small stage that the judges for the tournament were standing on. Sitting behind a podium were Mr. Contesta, Nurse Joy, and Mr. Sukizo. Although from the looks of it they were there more for show than anything else at this point.

Looking around I could see Drew to my right and Solidad to my left as we stood in the row closest to the announcer. Drew had an odd look on his face as he kept stealing glances at Pikachu and Pikachu had on a look of distrust or animosity as he stared right at the green haired coordinator, but unlike Drew he was not even trying to hide his glare. Near the back I could also see Harley, no surprise seeing as how I beat him in the first round. As the announcer started to speak the crowds quieted down.

"We would like to extend our congratulations to all who participated in this year's tournament. You all put on a spectacular performance but there were a certain few that performed above the rest, and it is these coordinators that we wish to specifically congratulate today. And to present the awards this year we would like to welcome the president of the Pokémon League, Mr. Charles Goodshow."

Another round of applause started as a stout aged man with a large white beard made his way onstage. I remember Ash talking about Mr. Goodshow before and I vaguely remember talking to him during Ash's time in the Ever Grande Championship. But either way I knew of his significance to the league as a whole and there was always something about this man that would cause you to smile whenever you would talk to him.

"Thank you, thank you." Mr. Goodshow started as he got to the podium. "It is with great pleasure that I hand out these awards to those that had the desire and conviction to train both their Pokémon and themselves to the limits. And it was their hard work that got them to where they are today. So now let's congratulate our winning coordinators; placing third this year, Drew LaRousse."

The applause started up again as Drew stepped forward onto the stage as Mr. Goodshow gave him the third place medal. Bowing to the president Drew walked off to the side of the stage as Mr. Goodshow prepared to give out the next medal.

"And now for the runner-up who gave her all in yesterday's battle bringing it down to one of the closest matches that we have ever seen. Solidad Saori."

The crowd started up again as Solidad walked up to receive her medal from Mr. Goodshow. But at this point my mind wasn't on what Solidad was doing.

"_Alright May calm down. You're next, so you have to make a make a good impression."_ I could feel myself start to sweat a bit as the pressure built up. _"Just relax and walk up there, there's nothing that you need to worry about it's just…"_

"May Maple!"

"Huh?" My mind snapped back into reality as Mr. Goodshow announced my name and the stadium erupted in an even greater roar of applause than before.

"Pika."

"Vee."

My two passengers nudged me on the neck to get me moving. Quickly trying to get over my initial insecurity I walked as calmly as I could up onto the stage to see Mr. Goodshow standing there with a golden trophy that was only a little shorter than I was. It was decorated in a blue and white motif with a golden Pokéball shining brightly on the top of it. But what was most impressive was the golden colored miniatures of each one of my Pokémon at the bottom.

"Congratulations May." He said to me as he shook my hand. "If I remember correctly you were one of the people who accompanied Ash Ketchum in the Hoenn League Championship, right?"

"Yes sir." I could barely get out.

"Well its good to see that the friends of that young man succeeding just like he has."

"Thank you sir."

"Now let's get one last round of applause for our champions today." The announcer called out as I took my trophy, which was not surprisingly heavy, and stood in between Drew and Solidad. As I looked out into the mass of people that crowded the stadium, I could feel a smile start to creep onto my face. This was one of the happiest moments of my life. I finally made the first big step in achieving my goal of becoming the best coordinator around.

* * *

And that's chapter three. As always I your reviews are greatly appreciated.


	4. The Surprise Question

Again not much to say except thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter. Oh and please don't hate me after reading this chapter.

* * *

"Where the heck is he?"

I was standing outside of the trainer prep room waiting for Ash and Dawn and they still hadn't shown after nearly ten minutes.

"Hey May!"

"It's about time." I mumbled.

"Sorry, it too longer than expected to get out of the stadium." Ash panted as he ran up to us.

"We could have gotten here earlier if you would have just taken my suggestion and left a few minutes before the ceremony officially ended. But you had to wait until the very end when May and the others walked off stage." Dawn said rather flatly as she walked up behind Ash, Piplup resting on her head as usual.

"What? We came to watch May receive her trophy and we did just that."

"That's true but you're missing a key detail. May is our friend." Dawn stated while starting to look a bit annoyed. "In other words we can see her at almost any time with that trophy now. There was little reason to stay for the whole thing like it's the only time that we will see her."

"But…"

"No Ash that's enough." Dawn insisted while raising a hand to his face. "Now if you two don't mind I'd like to get moving. We still have a long way to go to reach Pallet Town."

"Right," I say while suppressing some nervous laughter. But after a few seconds I could tell that Ash was staring at me for some reason. "Is there something wrong Ash?"

"Huh?" He almost seemed as I just snapped him out of some trance. "Oh, you changed your hair just this morning didn't you?"

"You noticed?" I asked happily while pulling part of it back with one of my hands and letting it fall back into place. Actually I was just surprised the he said anything about it at all, usually he wasn't really one to pick up on such important things. "I figured that I should change it for the ceremony. You like it?"

"It looks great May." He complimented with a small smile. "It really suits you."

"Thanks Ash," I said back with a smile of my own while my heart started to slightly quicken its pace. I could tell that he was a little nervous while saying that, but didn't really pay much attention to it. I was just happy that I even got compliment from him. This was something that Ash has never done before, well at least not for me, so it felt good to receive some praise for it. "We better get moving. And I think that Ash would like it if you joined up with him again." I finished up while looking over at Pikachu.

For a second I thought I could see a look of disappointment on his face, but when I tried to get a closer look he was already bounding off towards his trainer.

"Hey Pikachu, did you enjoy your night with May and Eevee?" Ash asked as his ever-present partner resumed its perch.

"Chu." He nodded while taking another look over at me and Eevee.

"Well that's good to hear. Alright then, if everyone is ready we can head out."

* * *

It was only about an hour after we left the Silver League Complex when the buildings that symbolized the achievements of some of the best trainers in the worlds started to fall out of sight. The modern world was quickly being left behind as the forest opened up before us.

Ash was leading the way back to his house, mostly because he knew the way back better than either me or Dawn. While I wish I could say that the trip was relaxing, Dawn was asking question after question, everything from how I make my poffins to specifics of how I train my Pokémon. Eventually the never-ending string of questions started to take their toll on me.

"You know Dawn; I learned pretty much everything I know about Pokémon from Ash when I traveled with him. So you've probably learned all that I know in those terms. The only other tip I can give at this point is to learn all you can about your Pokémon. Learning their strengths and weaknesses, not only in terms of their typing, might give you an advantage that can mean the difference between wining and losing a battle."

"You know you almost sound like Ash when you give little speeches like that."

"I sound like Ash?" I never really thought about that before, but then again he did basically train me in virtually every aspect in handling Pokémon. "Considering everything I guess that shouldn't be all that surprising." I finally said. "Now can we stop to eat? It's been hours since I had breakfast."

As soon as I asked that question Dawn burst out laughing, surprising not only Ash and I but the three Pokémon as well.

"_Was it something I said?"_

"What the heck is so funny back there?" Ash called back as he stopped walking as soon as Dawn started laughing.

"You should have heard it Ash!" Dawn said while starting to get control of her laughter. "May sounded just like you just now. If it wasn't for the difference in your voices I would have sworn that it was you talking and not May."

"Oh come on, I didn't sound that much like Ash, did I?" Looking over at Eevee I was hoping to get some support from one of my own Pokémon. But that was one Pokémon that I wasn't going to get any response from. In fact it almost looked as if she wanted to start laughing too.

"_Some help you are."_

"Ya, you did." Dawn commented while finally stopping her laughter. "You know I've been thinking for a while now that you two are actually pretty similar. And this just proves it."

"What do you mean similar?" For some reason I could feel my face start to heat up with Dawn's teasing.

"You've got to be kidding me. You two are so similar it's almost scary." As she started to list of her reasons she counted a finger for each example. "Your appetites are on par with each other, and that's something that few people can even match let alone exceed. Your personalities are also just far too similar; I've never seen anyone so committed to a single goal in my life. Although I will say that you both care for your Pokémon more than anybody else I've seen. Not to mention that it takes quite a bit to make either of you explode in anger. And just to wind this little list down, you have both caught similar Pokémon. With your Venusaur and his Bulbasaur being the most blatant examples but then there is also your Butterfly Pokémon as well as Munchlax and Snorlax. Actually I think that you two would make a cute couple."

"What?!" Both Ash and I exclaimed at the same time. I could feel my face heat up a bit at the thought, but apparently Ash was also blushing a bit at Dawn's ranting.

"Just a thought." She defended herself with yet another sly smile. "Look there's a small clearing over there; we can set up our things to make lunch.

Normally that would be a good distraction from what was at hand but for some reason I just couldn't get what Dawn said out of my head, 'I think that you two would make a cute couple'.

"_Why do I keep repeating those words in my head? I've been over this before. Ash is my best friend; nothing more, and nothing less."_

"So who's going to make lunch then?"

I snapped out of my thoughts as Dawn started to unpack some of the cooking pots.

"Well if we can get some of the right berries from around here I can make stew." I offered. They both just stared at me blankly. "What?"

"You can cook May?" Ash asked.

"I haven't tried cooking for other people before, but yes; I've cooked for myself and Eevee almost everyday since we got here in Johto. I have to admit that I made plenty of mistakes at first but I've gotten pretty good, at least I hope I have. It's hard to tell when we're the only ones who eat it."

The two of them just looked at each other. There was only one among them that seemed to trust my cooking.

"Pika." The yellow mouse quickly jumped down from Ash's shoulder and climbed back up onto my open one. Giving a soft coo he started to softly rub his cheek against mine.

"Thanks Pikachu, at least I can count on you. So is he the only one who trusts me, or does one of you want to do the cooking?"

They both took a quick look at each other before seemingly coming to the same conclusion that I had already come to. I wouldn't trust anything near my mouth, let alone in it, that either of them prepared.

"Just tell us what you want us to do." Dawn said in a defeated tone.

"Any food is better than no food at all." Ash added in.

"Glad you two have so much confidence in me." I sighed. "Alright, Dawn get some water and bring it to a boil. Ash, go and get some firewood so we can actually make a fire. I'll take a look and see what we have to work with."

"Sure no problem." Dawn went over to grab the pot and our canteens. "Come on Piplup I'll need you to help me find a river or something."

"Piplup pip!" The blue penguin responded as she walked off into the forest.

"I'll be back in a bit then. You coming Pikachu?"

Pikachu looked at me then Eevee before bounding off as his trainer disappeared into the woods as well.

"Alright Eevee I think it's about time we got started as well." Thinking a bit at what I needed I started to look through our bags to find anything that I could use in the stew, while Eevee left to find anything from the surrounding area. I found most of what I needed in Dawn's bag and my own, but considering that Ash never makes poffins or Pokéblock for his Pokémon it wasn't that much of a surprise. As I gathered everything near the center of our makeshift camp Eevee came back with a few wild herbs to set with everything else. As she set out to get some more I got out a knife and started to prepare everything.

This was our usual routine when we were traveling alone, I would get things set up around camp while she would go out to get anything that would give what I was making that night a little bit of a different flavor. It was a routine that we developed as I was experimenting with anything and everything that we could eat, going only off of the few cooking lessons that I got from Brock when we still traveled together. Needless to say the first month I spent a lot of time eating at restaurants after throwing away a failed dinner. It wasn't until my food started to become tolerable enough to eat that was when I started to improve the most. After a few months I actually started to like not only cooking but actually eating it as well. As far as I could tell it was the same for Eevee, both in my final mastery of Brock's Pokémon food for her and in my own cooking.

About the time Eevee came back with another bundle of wild herbs Ash and Dawn came back with what I sent them out to get. When they saw what I had done up to that point both of them almost dropped what they were holding.

"What? I told you that I could cook; unlike you I wasn't spoiled by Brock's cooking the last year-and-a-half. Now just get the fire going and the water boiling. I'll finish up with everything on my end, so you don't have to worry about doing anything else."

After the pot of water was prepared I started to add all the ingredients that I had prepared. After several minutes a wonderful aroma started to fill the clearing. As I stirred I could see that Ash, Dawn, and Piplup were once again staring at me. Ash was even drooling slightly.

"You know it's not polite to stare." I said to them as Eevee watched from my shoulder. "Nor is it to drool." I directed to Ash as he wiped off said saliva.

Using the ladle I pulled some of the broth out of the stew and took a taste. "Hmm, needs a bit more sage." I muttered to myself as I grabbed some more of the herbs that Eevee collected. After a moment or two I tasted it again. "Much better, want some Eevee."

"Vee." She responded with a nod, as I brought another ladle-full up to her.

After a satisfied coo from my Evolution Pokémon I looked back at my other companions. "You want to have a taste Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Without hesitation he jumped off of Ash's shoulder and quickly made his way to mine. Rubbing his cheek softly against mine, I brought the ladle up to him for him to take a sip.

"How come he gets a taste and we have to wait?" Ash wined from his spot on the other side of the fire.

"Because he was the only one of you who didn't doubt my cooking before even trying it." I shot back at the starving trainer. "So how about it, you like it?"

"Pika!" He replied with a big smile.

"Glad you like it, but it'll still a little bit before everything is done."

It was surprising that Ash was able to restrain himself as the smell become stronger and more enticing. He held out until everything was ready and into bowls. But what restraint he had built up in that time was quickly forgotten as soon as the bowl was in front of him, well that is after he took the first tentative spoonful.

"Wow this is really good!" He got out after downing the fist bowl. "Is there enough for seconds May?"

"Don't worry I made enough for thirds or even fourths." I responded happily filling up his bowl again.

"Thanks May, I never realized that you would be such a good cook!"

"Thanks Ash." I could feel myself start to blush with his compliments. "I've never really had anyone compliment me on my food before, so needless to say this is a pleasant surprise."

"It's not as good as Brock's but I have to say it's not half bad." Dawn stated as she took another sip.

"Thanks, I guess. So how do you two like it?" I asked looking down at the two Pokémon that were eating next to my feet.

"Pika!"

"Vee!"

They both chimed in after looking up from their bowls.

"Glad that everyone approves then."

"Of course! I'd personally love to be able to eat something like this everyday, I don't care what Dawn says this is just as good as anything Brock makes." Ash complimented between spoonfuls.

I could feel my heart beat quicken as my face started to heat up again. Looking down at my stew I tried to hide it as much as I could without making a scene. "I'm not sure if I would go that far."

"_Why the heck am I blushing so mach lately? I admit that I didn't expect this much praise from him but even still I shouldn't be reacting like this over such a simple thing."_

Before I could think more into the matter I could see both Eevee's and Pikachu's ears perk up and twitch a bit as they looked off towards some of the bushes that surrounded the clearing.

"What's the matter you two? Is someone there?"

Almost as if answering my question a rustling sound started to come from the very same bushes that the two of them were staring at. Both Pikachu and Eevee started to tense up as the noises got closer, but when the person finally revealed himself it was no stranger.

"Drew?'

Sure enough stepping out of the bushes was my green haired rival himself. He took a look around our group, stopping only briefly on Ash, before turning completely to me.

"Hey May, I was hoping that that smell was coming from you guys." He greeted.

"How did you know that we were going to be around here?" I inquired, wondering if he was following us on purpose.

"I heard from several people that they saw you heading down this road. As I was walking I smelled the same smell that I remembered came from your stew. At least I hoped it was your stew considering that every time I came across you when you were cooking it was already pretty much all gone."

"Well you found us." Remembering that there was one in the group that he had never met before I continued, "but where are my manners. Drew you remember Ash right?"

"How couldn't I? Ketchum." He nodded his head in Ash's direction as his demeanor seemed to become more solemn.

"Drew." Ash said likewise.

"And to his left is Dawn. She is a coordinator like us who Ash met…in…" I stopped mid sentence as Dawn put her bowl down and walked up to Drew. She looked straight at him and then walked around him, almost as if she was checking him out.

"Can I help you?" Drew asked the oddly acting girl.

After another second or two Dawn turned around to Ash before speaking, "Is this guy really that narcissistic pretty-boy that you've talked about Ash?"

I almost lost control of myself right there. It took all of my will-power to keep from laughing at Dawn's little comment. Ash was also able to keep from laughing out loud but he had a big smile on his face. Pikachu on the other hand apparently couldn't hold it and started to fill the clearing with his laughter. Eevee was barely holding it as well but she kept it to no more than a chuckle. In contrast Drew was fuming at what the blue haired coordinator had said.

"Ketchum!" He yelled straight at Ash. "What the heck have you been saying about me?"

Keeping nothing more than the big smile on his face Ash calmly answered the enraged looking coordinator. "What can I say? I'm entitled to my own opinion. How I interpret my experiences to my friends is my business, not your's."

"It becomes my business when you start talking about me!" He shot back. Looking over at the electric Pokémon who was still laughing his head off Drew seemed to get even more steamed. "And tell your yellow rat to shut up."

In almost an instant Pikachu stopped laughing and glared right at Drew. If looks could kill Drew would have been dead in less than a second. But it wasn't just Pikachu, with his comment Eevee stopped laughing as well and started glaring daggers at my rival.

I gave a nervous chuckle, but even that ended abruptly once I could see that Pikachu was starting to produce visible sparks as currents of electricity began to flow across his body. Eevee also looked as if she was about to act as a few dark black particles started to gather in front of her mouth. I knew that I had to act quickly otherwise there was a good possibility that Drew would soon be heading for the emergency room.

"Okay that's enough from both of you." I say as I grabbed Pikachu and pulled him into my lap. "And Eevee don't even think about completing that."

As soon as I grabbed Pikachu he stopped sparking immediately and didn't offer any resistance, in fact I could feel that he even relaxed slightly as I brought him in. I knew that Pikachu would never want to hurt me so I was counting on the fact that he would pull back his attack as soon as I got a hold of him. Eevee also stopped her own attack as soon as I commanded her, even if she didn't look all that happy about it. My little Evolution Pokémon then crawled her way onto the log that I was sitting on with Pikachu. But even though they stopped their attacks their eyes never left the coordinator.

"Actually Drew, this Pikachu is one of the last Pokémon that you would want to insult. He's usually very calm but its best not to try and test that patience. Not many Pokémon can withstand his lightning attacks, let alone a human. Truthfully they are some of the most potent ones that I have ever seen." Holding onto the yellow bundle of fur a little bit firmer to make sure that he didn't try anything I finally asked what probably everyone here was wondering. "So what is the reason that you came all the way out here Drew? I somewhat doubt that you came all this way just to say hi."

"Well if I wasn't getting insulted at every turn I could get to the point of why I'm here." He started to calm down somewhat before continuing. "But yes, you would be correct May. I do have a reason for coming here. Would you be willing to go out for dinner and a movie with me tonight?"

"What?" Both Dawn and Ash were apparently shocked by this, but not as much as I was. I really didn't know what to say. But with this sudden move of his I could feel my heart start to race.

"_Wait he's asking me out on a date? But why me?"_

"Well May? How about it?" He asked again, this time pulling out a rose. But as he began to approach me he seemed to second guess himself as I could feel Pikachu tense up again. Probably deciding that it was best to not test the Lightning Mouse again he quickly put it away.

I was virtually speechless, I've never been asked out before. But even if this was a new thing for me there was one thought that seemed to come in front of it. "Um sure, if that's alright with you guys."

"Why do they have to agree with it or not?"

"Because they are my friends." I respond while getting a hold of myself again. "We are traveling together and if it's too inconvenient for them to stop for a while then I see no reason for me to do so. Well guys?"

"Personally I don't see why you'd want to but it doesn't bother me." Dawn said without taking her eyes off of him. Drew didn't say anything or even look at her as she made the comment.

Ash muttered something indistinguishable but didn't seem to object to it.

"If both of you are okay with stopping for a bit tonight then I guess I'll agree to it."

"Great!" My rival exclaimed with a smile retuning to his face. "There's a town only about and hour down the road from here. I'll meet you at the Pokémon Center there at five o'clock this afternoon."

"Sure, see you then."

As he left the make-shift camp was completely silent as we all went back to eating the last of our meals. Or at least we tried to. After that I wasn't in any mood to eat, there were too many questions that were going through my head. I'm not sure why everyone else wasn't eating but it was obvious that it had something to do with Drew.

"_This'll be my first date, what should I expect out of this? Or what will Drew expect of me? And what is Ash thinking of this?"_ The last one seemed to linger with me a bit. _"But why would I be worried about what Ash thinks of this?"_ Looking over at him I could see that he was just staring into his stew, stirring it every once and a while. _"I just hope he's not disappointed that we will be stopping a bit longer tonight all because of me."_

"Pikachu, I think you should go back to Ash. He doesn't seem to be doing all that well right now."

Looking up at me the electric mouse nodded and ran over to his trainer. Having Pikachu climb back up onto his shoulder seemed to perk Ash up a little bit as he rubbed his friend underneath his chin. With Pikachu out of my lap Eevee quickly jumped in and replaced him.

"So why did you agree to become that guy's date?" Dawn finally asked, breaking the silence. "Because from what I've seen and heard about that guy, he wouldn't be my prime choice for a boyfriend."

"Well he does have his good sides at times." I quietly said, trying not to really build this into anything.

"Do you mean the roses or something else?"

Her comment shocked me. "How did you know about the… Oh never mind, I'm guess that it was one of the things that Ash told you about him."

"You got it. And from how he painted the guy out to be it actually seemed pretty accurate."

"Just what did Ash say about him?

"I'll spare you the details; let's just keep it at the fact that from I can see Ash did a good job at describing him. I just hope you know what you're doing May."

"_On second thought, I hope that I know what I'm doing as well."_ I thought as I finished up my stew and started to consider everything about tonight.

* * *

I hope that you enjoyed that chapter, with of course the exception of that little part. It should be fairly easy to guess what will be coming next chapter. So until then, please review.


	5. The First Date

Well I know that not many of you will be completely thrilled about this chapter but the story must go on. It wasn't exceptionally easy for me to decide on doing this, I can tell you that.

* * *

The silence that had held over the campsite seemed to follow us as we continued our walk down the road to the Pokémon Center, and to where I would be meeting Drew. We weren't even really walking together, Dawn and her Piplup were up at the front of us all while Ash and Pikachu were behind me. The only real conversation that was going on was a quiet one between Ash and Pikachu, but with how far he was walking behind Dawn and I, along with the volume of it, I couldn't make out anything they were talking about. The only one who could make out their conversation seemed to be Eevee, who from her position on my shoulder kept on looking back at the pair. And when she wasn't looking directly at them I could see that her ears were almost consistently focused behind us. It wasn't as if that helped me though considering that she wouldn't be able to tell me what they were talking about anyways. Not to mention that I wouldn't be that nosy to listen in on a private conversation between my best friend and his Pokémon.

But other than the date itself the other thing that seemed to stay in my mind was how Ash actually took the news. Ever since we heard Drew's date proposal the only person that he's talked to was Pikachu. Not only that but I had this odd feeling that even though he didn't say anything against it Ash wasn't all that thrilled about this turn of events. Besides the fact that he was only speaking to one other in the group he didn't seem to be his usual self. The thing about Ash is that no matter what the moment was he could always put a smile on your face, he always seemed in the best of moods and nothing could get in his way. So seeing him like this was starting to make me feel a little depressed as well.

"Vee?"

I could feel myself snap out of the little trance that I fell into after a worried cry and rub on the cheek from Eevee.

"Oh sorry Eevee, guess I just kinda spaced out. This date thing is making my mind go a bit crazy. I'm still trying to even think of why I accepted it in the first place. I mean Drew is a good friend and all but do I really like him like that?" While looking at my loyal Pokémon an idea hit me that could hopefully solve some of my current problems. "Actually Eevee, I have a favor to ask you."

"Vui?"

"Don't worry I think that you'll like this." Taking a quick breath to collect my thoughts I continued. "I want you to stay with Ash and Pikachu tonight, at least until I get back."

The instant I said that she perked up immediately.

"Eve!" She again rubbed her cheek against my own in affection. Considering the mood that everyone was in I made sure to keep from uttering a sound and suppressed my usual reaction to her tickling my face like that. The last thing we needed was for me to just start laughing out of the blue.

"I figured that you would like it. But I'm not doing this just for you. For one I know that you've never been the biggest fan of Drew so I'd rather not force you to either go through that or to have to put you in your Pokéball all night. And two I can tell that you've probably wanted to spend some more time with Pikachu ever since last night. In return all I ask is that you help keep Ash company while I'm gone, he hasn't been himself since Drew asked me out and it's starting to worry me. Think you can do that?"

"Vee!" She nodded happily.

"That's my girl." I say as I rubbed her underneath her chin.

Cooing softly she in return cuddled into my neck.

"Look I can see the Pokémon Center!" Dawn called out as she finally cleared most of the forest.

"Piplup pip!" Her starter added.

Sure enough as I caught up to her I could see not only the Pokémon Center but a good portion of the town as well. Considering its location the town actually looked respectably large.

Looking down at my Pokétch I checked the time. Four o'clock, one hour until it starts. Sighing I started down the hill with my friends towards the unknown.

* * *

Walking out of our room in the Pokémon Center I could see that Ash and Dawn were sitting in the waiting room of the Center. When they caught sight of me I could see Ash's eyes grow large, Dawn just had a half-smile on her face while her Piplup in turn just seemed to be indifferent to the entire thing.

"Wow May, you look great." He finally said as I got close enough.

I could feel myself start to blush once again from his compliment. "Thanks Ash, but this really isn't all that much. Unless you think that I overdid it."

I didn't try to do anything too extravagant for tonight, but I did change out of my usual traveling clothes; a pair of blue jeans, a sleeveless white blouse with a white and green flower design, and finally a brown jacket to keep myself warm as well to finish off my look. I kept my hair style from the other day but left out my bandanna so my hair wasn't encumbered by anything.

"No you look great." He said again as his voice started to fall.

Sensing the he wasn't feeling the best I figured that now would be the best time to ask him. "Hey Ash I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing something for me tonight."

"What's that?" He asked, perking up slightly.

"Eevee's never really been the biggest fan of Drew so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking care of her until I get back."

"Sure, I don't really mind." He answered giving a slightly confused look.

As Eevee jumped off of my shoulder and ran up to him I could already see a small change in his demeanor.

Rubbing Eevee between her ears he looked back at me. "But why not just put her back in her Pokéball?"

"It's been months since she's been in there so I figured that she wouldn't want to start again because of this. Besides I also figured that you and Pikachu would enjoy the company."

"Thanks May." He then looked as if he was getting a little flustered before he spoke up again. "Um May I was wondering…well is it possible…"

"Hey May!"

Ash stopped as soon as the voice called out. Looking over I could see Drew walking through the doors of the Pokémon Center. He seemed to be dressed in a near-formal type fashion with black jeans and a dark green polo shirt. "Are you ready to head out?" He asked.

"Sure, just one second Drew. So what was it that you were going to ask me Ash?" I questioned looking back at him.

"It's nothing." He responded in a lower tone.

"You sure?"

"Ya, I'm sure. Just enjoy your date tonight."

"If you say so. Bye guys, I'll see you in a few hours."

Following Drew outside I could feel all five sets of their eyes on me. It was just then that I started to feel nervous about all of this. Even though this was on my mind the entire afternoon it was odd that only now this feeling came over me.

"You look nice." I heard as a rose appeared in front of my face.

His voice shook me out of the trance that I had been finding myself in more and more as of late. "Huh, oh thanks Drew." I responded while accepting the rose and taking in its soothing aroma.

"Is something wrong?"

"No I'm just not used to this I guess."

"That's okay, just relax and have fun." He said with a smile.

"Right, relax." I sighed.

"So where is Eevee?" He asked, obviously trying to start a conversation as we walked to the movie theater. "Every time I've seen you in Johto you've had her on you."

"I left her with Ash."

"With Ketchum?"

"Ya, she probably would have liked staying with him more than coming with us."

While it was the truth I figured that it was best not to tell him everything that I told Ash. I could already feel that this was a bit tense so there was no need to accentuate it any further. This was after all my first real date and even if I wasn't all gung-ho about it I didn't want to ruin it this early.

"Oh, I see." He muttered.

"Why do you call Ash that?" I asked him out of the blue.

"Call him what now?" He responded, apparently surprised by my question.

"By his last name, and you two never seem to be all that happy to see each other."

"It's hard to explain. Let's just say that he and I never got off on the right foot." I could tell that Drew wasn't telling the full truth as he rubbed the back of his head a bit. "But why ask?"

"Well he is one of my best friends, I was just wondering."

"So what did you do with the Grand Festival Trophy? You're obviously not carrying it around."

He was obviously trying to change the subject not wanting to stay on the topic of Ash. Seeing as how I had no real reason to continue it I didn't really resist the change. "I asked them to send it back home to Petalburg, as you kinda inferred it's just a bit too big to be carrying around while traveling. My parents will probably put it up in my room or something until I get back."

"So now that you've won here I'm guessing that you'll be going back home for a while?"

"That's the plan so far."

"Then how about after that?"

"I really haven't thought that far ahead yet. At the moment the only thing that I have planned is following Ash and Dawn to Pallet Town before catching a ferry to Hoenn from there."

"Wait a minute, Pallet Town?" He thought out loud while scratching the top of his head. "Isn't that in southeastern Kanto?"

"Yep right on the coast of the Eastern Sea. It's actually a really nice little town."

"Why are you heading all the way down there? I understand why you wouldn't take one of the transit lines from Silver Plateau, but isn't there a small port out of New Bark Town or even Cherrygrove City?"

"That's true but there's another reason that we are heading out there. Dawn will be starting her journey through Kanto from there as her rivals from Sinnoh will be heading around Kanto as well. I on the other hand just wanted to travel with him for old time's sake."

"You only wanted to travel with him?"

"I didn't say him, I said them."

"No you said him."

"I know what I said." I insisted. "Now there's the movie theater."

Sure enough after all of our talking we reached the town's movie theater. Looking at the selection that they had playing there wasn't really anything good, at least none to my liking.

"You like horrors right?" Drew asked me as a particular poster seemed to catch his eye.

"Sure I guess." I answered as I walked over to him.

"Great, I've heard that this one is really good."

Looking at the title I could feel my mood fall real fast. I remembered hearing about that movie while traveling through Johto and unlike Drew I only heard bad things about it, and I trusted the sources who told me about it. Not to mention that it was longer than most movies should be. But before I could say anything in protest Drew was already at the ticket booth talking to the employee.

"_This is going to be a long three and a half hours."_ I thought to myself as Drew finished buying our tickets.

* * *

"So did you like the movie?"

"Oh it was great." I said while trying to hold back the sarcasm.

"_I knew that they were right. That has got to be one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time."_

It was already dark out as we left the theater. For some reason Drew actually liked that film. I on the other hand wished that I hadn't seen it period. All in all the entire story wasn't all that bad but the film itself was just too long and that alone killed the entire thing. Not to mention that it had the most cliché endings one could ever think of and the film looked surprisingly low budget. I was starting to get the feeling that he was wanting try to take advantage of the "fearful girl that needs her protector" and get me to hold onto him or something as at almost every "scary" part he would quickly glance over at me. I admit it could have worked considering that I do get spooked relatively easily, at least if he had chosen a scarier movie.

"Are you ready for dinner then?"

"Of course, after how long that movie was I'm more than willing to sit down and eat. So where are we going?"

"Right here." He pointed out.

Looking up I expected to see some family restaurant, possibly a bit better, but what I saw was actually what looked like a fairly high class restaurant.

"You sure that you want to go here?" I asked him somewhat tentatively. "It seems a bit fancy for us."

"You don't like it?"

"It's not that, it's just that I'm not used to going to places like these. I've only been to a few of them on special occasions and even then I was dressed up a lot more than something like this."

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." He pressured as we entered the place.

As soon as we got in it was apparent that this was a more exclusive restaurant. White table cloths and cloth napkins adorned every table, and sure enough looking around I felt as if I was underdressed. Sure they weren't in tuxes and full length dresses or anything like that but it was far better than some jeans and a blouse.

Surprisingly we got to our table rather quickly and the waiter brought us our menus. Knowing enough about restaurants like these I tried to at least act as if I was wearing something more appropriate, grabbing the napkin I neatly placed it on my lap as the waiter poured us some water. As I looked over the menu I was seeing food items that I've never seen before, although looking at the prices of some of them it was pretty obvious at why. They didn't even have ramen anywhere on it.

"Don't worry about how much it costs; I'll take care of everything."

Looking up at him my mind was already saying that I should do the exact opposite. "Are you sure Drew? The prices of these things aren't just a drop in the bucket."

"Positive, just get whatever it is that you want. Price is not an issue."

"If you say so, thanks."

"_Even if he says that it seems almost as if I'm taking advantage of him like this. Even though he insisted I'll make sure that it isn't too expensive."_

"Are you two ready to order?" I could see that our waiter was already back waiting for our response.

"I am," Drew told him. "Are you ready May?"

"Ah, sure I guess. For an appetizer I'd like a garden salad with vinaigrette on the side and the smoked salmon for my entrée." I said as I handed him the menu.

"Thank you, and for your drink?"

"Water is fine."

"Very well, and for you sir?" He asked turning to Drew.

"I'll have the garden salad as well but with some ranch dressing on the side and then the filet mignon with the asparagus."

"And for your drink?"

"Water is just fine." Drew said after handing over his menu as well.

"Of course, your salads should be out shortly."

As he walked off I continued to look around the place and was amazed at what they had set up. There was glass covering an entire wall looking over the forests of Mount Silver and in the backdrop Tohjo Falls could be seen thundering away just as it has for hundreds of years. Around the actual restaurant there were many plants that seemed to extend part of the feel of the forest into the building. People filled most of the tables quietly talking about who knows what. I had to say that while everything was expensive this place was impressive.

"So you don't come to these places too often?" Drew spoke up as we waited for the salads to arrive.

"Nope." I shook my head. "Originally when I was still at home we never went to these places all that often because both I and Max were too young. We always got a babysitter or something as our parents would go off. Once we started to travel it was even further out of the question. Our group had enough money to get by easily enough but not enough to afford luxuries such as these."

"So do you like it then?"

"Visually it is very impressive but we'll find out my true opinion once the food gets here."

* * *

"_Okay so I have to admit, the food was good and it almost made up for the crappy movie."_

The two of us were almost back at the Pokémon Center. Drew and I were just talking about random things, mostly about coordinating. I could see that he was slowly getting closer to me as we walked, it would have looked almost as if it was just coincidental if I didn't know him better.

"Well here we are." I said to the green haired coordinator as we got to the front of the Center. "I had a good time tonight Drew."

"That's great to hear May. Will I see you tomorrow as well?"

"It depends. More than likely we'll be heading out early tomorrow, so it's slim."

"I'll be heading to Sinnoh after this to compete in their contests, and I know that Solidad will be heading over there as well. I hope that I can see you there."

"As I said before I don't know what I'll be doing next. Sinnoh seems to be a likely choice though."

"Great! Then I'll be seeing you later." He then extended another rose to me with a big smile on his face.

"_Where the heck does he get these things?"_ I asked myself as I accepted the flower.

"Thanks Drew. Well, I'll see ya later then."

As I turned around to enter the Center I could feel him lightly grab onto my wrist. Tuning back around to him he did something that I wasn't entirely expecting; he leaned in and kissed me on my cheek.

As he jogged off I just stood there wondering exactly what just happened.

"_Did he just really do that?"_ I asked myself as I brought my hand up to touch the spot on my cheek that his lips touched. I wasn't exactly disgusted at the kiss but I wouldn't say that I was ecstatic about it either. I guess that I was just still in a bit of a state of shock at receiving my first kiss.

Walking into the Center I must have seemed like some sort of zombie with the trance that I was once again in.

"Pika!"

"Eevee!"

I came to my senses as the two of them ran up to my shoulders.

"Hey you're back."

Looking up I could see Dawn and then Ash walking into the lobby. I gave a quick sigh at realizing that no one saw what just transpired outside.

"Hey guys." I said to my two human friends. Scratching the two Pokémon on top of their heads I could tell that they were in a fairly good mood, "and hello to you two as well. Did you enjoy your time with Ash?"

"Eve." She replied with a nod.

"So how did your date go?" Dawn asked as we sat down on one of the couches.

"He took us to one of the cheesiest horror movies that are out right now, and it lasted for a little over three and a half hours."

"Ouch, why did he choose that one?"

"I was starting to think that he was hoping for the scared girl routine and that I would be latching onto him for most of the movie. Needless to say it didn't work."

"Serves him right if that was actually his plan, what about after that?"

I suddenly noticed that Ash was unusually quiet during all this time as Dawn was the only one who was asking the questions. But even though he wasn't talking he did appear to be listening fairly intensively, and if I wasn't mistaken it also looked as if he was thinking pretty hard about something. I just put the thought aside for the moment as I continued recounting my night to Dawn.

"Well I will say that it did get better after the movie. He took me to probably one of the best restaurants in town. I felt extremely underdressed at that place and everything was extremely expensive. The food was good though, and view that you could see from there was extremely impressive."

"Now that's what I would expect out of a normal date, especially coming from someone like him. But I still have to ask, why did you accept that guy's date proposal anyways? I've been wondering that ever since lunch."

"I really don't know myself." I started as I could feel a very light blush tinge my cheeks. "My mind just went a little blank there after he asked that and I just wound up accepting it."

She gave me an odd look almost as if wondering if what I said was the truth or not, but soon after shook her head a bit as if to clear it. "So now that that's out of the way how about we start traveling again tomorrow afternoon."

"Tomorrow afternoon? Why not tomorrow morning?" Considering that she wanted to get to Pallet Town rather quickly before it was odd that all of a sudden they would want to leave in the afternoon.

She took a quick glance at Ash before giving what sounded to be a nervous laugh. "I was just figuring that you wanted some time to sleep in after you date tonight. Then we could leave at our own leisure after having a good lunch."

"Oh, no I think leaving tomorrow morning will be fine."

"If you say so." She gave a big yawn before continuing. "I'm heading off to sleep then. Piplup is already sleeping upstairs; I was just waiting long enough to see you come back. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Dawn." I repeated to the blue haired coordinator as she started up the stairs. Looking back at Ash I could see that he was still deep in thought. "I think I'll be heading up as well, goodnight Ash."

As I got up to head to my room I could feel Ash grab on to my wrist.

"Actually May, could you stay for a little longer? I have something to ask you."

"Sure Ash," I say as I sat down next to him again and our two Pokémon jumped down onto the coffee table in front of us. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Actually it has something to do with what I wanted to ask you earlier."

"You mean before I left with Drew?"

"Ya, that one. Well May, what I really wanted to ask you was…" He kinda trailed off as he lightly bit his lip. He almost looked cute sitting there pondering whatever was on his mind. As I looked at him my eyes unconsciously trailed down from his deep auburn eyes down past his nose and right onto his lips, where they apparently stopped. With the silence that was permeating the air around us my mind started to think for itself and trailed back to what happened in front of the Pokémon Center just minutes ago. As I stared at his lips I could feel my heart beat quicken as a single thought entered my head.

"_I wonder what it would be like if Ash kissed me?"_

Those words surprised me. Trying to get back to the here and now I forced myself to look away from his lips and back up to his eyes. I had to try and get my mind focused on other things.

"Something wrong Ash?" I could see that both Eevee and Pikachu had sympathetic looks for him as he tried to apparently find the right words.

"Ya I'm fine. It's just that, well truthfully, I'm a little nervous right now."

"Nervous about what?"

"Well…"

"Pika pika Pikapi!"

"Eevee!"

I looked at each of the two Pokémon sitting on the table; it was almost as if they were cheering him on for something. Smiling he nodded before taking a deep breath to continue.

"May, I've heard that there is a fair going on not too far from here and I was wondering…" He paused before taking another deep breath. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going there with me tomorrow morning."

* * *

Hehe, I'm starting to get evil with the cliffhangers. Oh well blame the other authors who influenced my work. As always please review and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	6. The Competition Begins

Well here's the next chapter, and as of the last one this has become my longest story so far. Well thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and other than that enjoy.

* * *

"May, I've heard that there is a fair going on not too far from here and I was wondering…" He paused before taking another deep breath. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going there with me tomorrow morning."

I could feel my face start to heat up and my heart beat quickened again.

"Ash are you…"

"I know that I won't be able to afford anything like what Drew brought you to tonight." He interrupted. "But I was hoping that we could just have some time together as friends."

I could see that I wasn't the only one who was blushing at that point. His face was as red as a tomato as well. But putting that aside I already knew my answer.

"Sure Ash, I'd love to."

As soon as I said that he went straight back to the normal Ash that I love seeing, complete with that trademark smile on his face. "Really?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I accept?"

"Thanks May! I'm positive that you'll enjoy tomorrow."

"I'll just have to trust you on that." I said to him, showing off my own smile. "Now I think I'll be going off to bed then, I'll see you tomorrow morning. Goodnight Ash."

"Goodnight May, sweet dreams." He responded, still sporting his large smile.

"Come on Eevee, time to go."

Talking one quick look back at Pikachu she jumped down and followed me up to my room.

When we asked for rooms earlier it turned out that all the ones with the usual bunk beds were full so they got each of us a private room. I will admit that even though it would have been fun to sleep as a group again it was nice to be able to keep my own room. But that was the last thing on my mind at the moment.

"_Ash."_

As soon as his name came up I could picture the big smile that he had on his face after I agreed to go to the fair with him. I could also feel my heart start to race again as my thoughts moved back to me thinking about what his kiss would feel like.

"_Why am I all of a sudden thinking of things like this?"_ I asked myself as I opened the door to my room. _"Is it because of what happened outside of the Pokémon Center with Drew? But why am I thinking of Ash when it was Drew who kissed me?"_

The questions just kept coming as I prepared for bed and they didn't end when I got into bed. All I could do was hope that they would go away before I got to sleep because even with all of those questions there wasn't a single one that got an answer.

As I got under the covers Eevee jumped up onto the end of the bed and curled up into her usual ball-like sleeping position.

"Goodnight Eevee."

As I closed my eyes to go to sleep I could tell that the room lit for a second before growing dark again. Looking up from the bed I could see that the door was open slightly and a trace amount of light was filtering in from the lit hallway.

"_Did I not close the door all the way?"_

Turning on the lamp that was located next to the bed to get up and close the door I saw that we had a little visitor.

"Vee!"

And to no surprise Eevee was the first to run up and greet him.

"So what are you doing here? Did you miss us that much?"

Sure enough the one who walked into the room was none other than Pikachu, and he was now walking up to the bed with Eevee close behind.

"Does Ash know that you are over here?" I asked the electric mouse as I went to close the door again while they jumped up onto the bed.

"Pika." He nodded.

"Well that's a start, but I think that my guess of why you're here has very little to do with me personally." I smiled as I saw the two of them curl up at the foot of the bed. "And that confirms it. You're always welcome to spend the night with us for any reason, goodnight you two." As I reached to turn off the lamp I caught something out of the corner of my eye. When they finished making themselves comfortable Eevee lifted her head just enough and gave Pikachu a lick on the cheek before returning to her original position at his side. I giggled as I saw the odd smile that came to Pikachu's face right before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and was completely out in a matter of seconds. But even though he was out cold that same smile persisted.

"_Those two are getting along quite nicely, although I wonder why it's progressed this fast. Oh well, love will find its way into a person's heart even without them realizing it if you let everything take its course. Good luck you two."_

As I drifted off into sleep I could see images pass by my eyes, mostly of everything that happened since the first day of my journey. But as I could feel sleep finally take hold of me there was only one picture that remained, a boy and his Pikachu walking off into the sunset.

* * *

I awoke the next morning to once again find the two of them curled up together just as they were yesterday morning. And once again I couldn't help but smile as I grabbed my clothes for the day and to take my morning shower.

As I turned on the water I felt unusually happy that morning. Even more so than yesterday morning for some reason, and I was about to receive the Grand Festival trophy in only a few hours at that point.

After finishing up my morning routine I exited the bathroom to see one of the two lovebirds just waking up. Pikachu leaned up and gave a big yawn before looking over at me and then nudging Eevee a couple times before she too finally woke up.

"Did you two have a good sleep?" I asked with a smile. After getting a lazy nod from both of them I went to the mirror to put some on finishing touches before heading out to the fair with Ash.

"_Well unlike last night I definitely don't want to wear anything too fancy if we are going to be walking around some fairgrounds most of the day. I just hope he doesn't mind me wearing my usual attire, it seems the best for right now."_

So after fixing up my hair I grabbed what was left of my stuff and returned it to my bag.

"Come on you two, we're leaving to go eat some breakfast." I called out to the two Pokémon in the room as I prepared to open the door. In no time they both came bounding up onto my shoulders; once again back to their usual energy level. "Alright are you both ready to go…ahh!"

Opening the door I was caught off guard by Dawn standing right there looking as if she was just about to knock.

"Whoops, sorry May. Ash and I just were about to head down to eat and we wanted to see if you were ready to go as well."

Catching my breath from the accidental scare that she gave me I looked back at Dawn. "It's okay, you just surprised me. But ya, we're ready."

"Alright then let's get moving."

As we walked down to the lobby I could tell that Dawn was looking over at Pikachu who seemed fairly content sitting on my shoulder watching Eevee play with my hair.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did Pikachu sleep with you again tonight?"

I really shouldn't have been, but I was caught slightly off guard by her question. Not sure if the two of them were ready for the whole world to know about everything that had been going on, or even if I was assuming the correct details, I figured that I can tell at least one version of what I thought to be the truth.

"These two have become almost inseparable over the past couple of days, I have my ideas of why but even then I can't say for sure. Pikachu came into our room last night to spend the night with us again. I'm not completely sure of their exact reasons but they definitely enjoy each other's company."

"Oh, do you think that they are…you know."

"That's not for me to say and I feel no need to ask them about it." I told her truthfully.

"Good point, but I know someone who won't be all that happy to hear this if it is actually true."

"And who would that be?"

"My Buneary."

Those two words seemed to grab Pikachu's attention very quickly and just as quickly he looked back over at Eevee. From what I could tell she wasn't really starting to like where this conversation was going, mostly due to the fact that she stopped batting at the stray hairs that fell into her face. That and the fact that as soon as Dawn said those two words she looked directly at Pikachu.

"She's had a fairly obvious crush on him since we first met her." Dawn continued while taking out a Pokéball to look at while she talked. I could only assume that it was her Buneary who was inside of it.

"Is that so?" I took a glance at the now very nervous looking Pikachu and could see that his eyes kept on darting back and forth from an increasingly annoyed looking Eevee to the blue haired devil that wasn't helping the situation. I couldn't help but smile slightly at his current predicament, even though I could guess what the outcome of the story would be.

"But Pikachu never really returned those feelings. Either he didn't understand them or he already had someone else in mind and didn't want to give her the wrong idea."

I could tell that Pikachu relaxed very quickly after Dawn finished her last sentence, all he did was give a nervous smile to Eevee before slinking down out of her sight a bit. Even though Eevee calmed down she still looked a little annoyed, but considering that she just learned of a once possible rival for his affection it would be quite understandable. My guess is that she came to a slight compromise with that glare focused at him.

"No real surprise there, though I will say that the former describes his trainer pretty well." I said as I rubbed the now uneasy yellow mouse between his ears.

"Ironic that you're the one saying that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked the now smiling coordinator.

"Oh nothing, just an observation."

"_What the heck is going through that head of hers? And what did she mean by ironic?"_

But I had to put those thoughts aside as we came to the bottom of the stairs, across the room I could see Ash waiting in one of the lobby's chairs. As he caught sight of us he quickly shoved something shiny into the pocket of his jacket. He looked as if he was wearing what he normally did around Sinnoh but instead of just a black vest with the yellow stripe it was more of a jacket with long sleeves, though he didn't zip it up. I had to admit that he looked pretty good with it on.

"Good morning Ash." Dawn chimed.

"Good morning Ash, did you sleep well?" I added.

"To tell you the truth, not really." He responded with a bit of nervous laughter. "It was hard to get to sleep because of what we had planned today."

I could feel my face start to blush a bit as his started to appear as well. Pushing those thoughts aside I got myself ready for the task at hand, getting breakfast.

"Well let's just put that behind us." I said cheerfully. "It's time to go eat."

* * *

After breakfast Dawn left to go do some more shopping while Ash and I headed out to the fair.

"Sorry that I didn't really dress up for this Ash, considering that we were walking around so much I figured that it would be best to wear something that would be comfortable for the entire day."

"It's okay, it's not like I mind. You would look great no matter what you were wearing." He replied with a sheepish smile as his face started to grow red again.

"Thanks Ash. Are you sure that it was okay to bring those two?" I asked pointing to Pikachu and Eevee who at the moment were taking up residence on his shoulders.

"Well as you said a couple days ago, he is my other half. And if he's my other half then Eevee would be the closest to yours. So it would be kinda feel wrong to not take them with us."

"I guess you're right but when exactly did I say tha…" Just as I was about to ask I answered my own question and a blush made its way onto my face as the image came back to mind. "Oh the underwear thing, like I said I for some reason I couldn't resist and I really am sorry for doing that to you."

"Ya, well that's best left forgotten." He replied with his face only deepening in color. Knowing that I wasn't the only one embarrassed by the incident made me feel a lot better.

"Come on," I said as I grabbed his hand. "I can already hear the fair. We can't be all that far away from it."

He said something as I started to drag him along the path towards the sounds of the fair, but I really didn't pay any attention to it. As we started to round a small hill I could already see the ferris wheel. It didn't take long to get to the top and start looking over the entire place. I could feel myself just get excited at finally seeing everything. It wasn't the largest fair that I've seen but it was still a good size considering that it was out in the middle of nowhere. It was based around a small shrine set into the hills and everything was placed in front of it. The rides seemed to be set off to the side of the main area of the fair. There didn't seem to be all that many of them but along with the ferris wheel I could make out a small roller coaster as well.

"I was hoping that there was going to be more to the fair than this." I could hear him mutter.

"Don't worry Ash, I can probably guarantee you that this'll be better than that cheesy movie. Now let's get going!" I say as I started to pull him down the hill again.

"You know May I can walk on my own." I thought I heard him call out, but by this point I wasn't listening. The only thing on my mind at that point was what I wanted to do once we got to the bottom of that hill.

* * *

We spent the rest of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon at that fair. They had a surprising amount of rides considering how small the fair was. Ash's favorite one seemed to be the roller coaster that they had. I've been on bigger and more thrilling ones back in Hoenn but for some reason I enjoyed this one just as much as those. As for me, I dragged Ash on the Tilt-o-Whirl more times than I could count. At one point he looked as if he was going to be sick, but insisted that he was fine and agreed to go on it once more. Yet after that last one he could barely stand, but no matter how much he insisted that he was okay I decided that it even though I could have withstood a few more times it was best to quit. I didn't want him to lose out on some of this just for my sake.

Even after nearly forcing him to go on the Tilt-o-Whirl that many times Ash was still willing to go anywhere that I suggested, and even though I've heard him complain about how boring a ferris wheel was he didn't even give a second of thought when I suggested that we go on it. While I will admit that it would have been better to see the fair lit up with its various colors of lights after dark the view that it gave us of the surrounding area was impressive, and being able to see that with one of my best friends only made it better.

After the rides we spent the remaining time in the game area. Although I really wasn't any good at even one of them I found one prize that I would have actually liked, a life-sized Glaceon plush toy. And just to my luck the game that I needed to win at was a ring toss game. You'd think that after all of my coordinator training I'd be able to do something as simple as that. Yet no matter how many times I tried I just could never get the stupid ring to stay put and just before I was about to give up Ash offered to get it for me. It only took him two tries to get one of the large prizes. While I was kinda embarrassed that I couldn't do it after so many tries yet he was able to do it in just two, it really didn't matter to me all that much.

"See piece of cake." He said as the vender gave him the Glaceon.

"Oh really?" Looking back that the vender I put the last bit of my money on the table. "Give me one more shot."

I'm not really sure why I did that but I felt as if I should at least try to let him take all the credit. As he gave me the three rings that I got for the amount that I gave him I aimed at the same target that Ash got his on. I'm not sure if it was because I didn't want to lose to him or just that I already had what I wanted or even just that my mood lifted after him getting me the prize, but the first ring hit its mark. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I got the other two as well.

"You're right." I smiled back at him, who at the moment only had a look of wonder on his face. "It was a piece of cake."

Even though my first choice was taken already I found some others that caught my attention. In the end I was able to get life-sized versions of Pikachu and Eevee as well as Espeon and Umbreon. But seeing as how the three evolved forms where pretty large Ash attached two of them to his backpack while I carried the third one under one of my arms.

Eevee didn't seem to like any of her evolved forms all that much but no matter what she thinks I'll be taking them home to add to my collection. I'll also make sure that the Glaceon will be sitting above all the others. I have a decent sized collection of Pokémon plush toys at home but they have all been either given to me by my parents or I've bought them myself. This was the first one that someone other than my parents actually gave me, even if it was just from a friend.

We left the attractions at about mid-afternoon to head back to camp.

"Vee."

"Oh you want some more?" I asked the Pokémon on my shoulder. After a nod of her head I grabbed some more of the cotton candy that I had and held it in front of her hungry mouth. With a small lunge the entire piece disappeared in less than a second.

"No need to thank me." I said flatly as she licked her lips clean.

"She's just enjoying herself right now." Ash laughed. "Let her have some fun."

"She's spoiled enough as it is already, she doesn't need any more encouragement from you."

"What?" He asked innocently.

I let out a big sigh. "With that attitude I'm surprised that Pikachu isn't getting overweight."

"Oh? And as I mentioned before, who was the one to slip him snacks virtually every night for a little over a year and a half?"

"It wasn't my fault he likes me better." I teased him.

"Really, he likes you better?"

"Yep, and I can prove it."

"Alright then, I dare you to."

"Gladly."

Turing my back to him for a second I needed to prep my secret weapon.

"Eevee I have a favor to ask you." I whispered to my loyal Pokémon. "I want you to get Pikachu over here but don't make it too obvious that you're trying."

"Vee." She shook her head.

"Lemme guess, you won't help me because of the bet?" She just gave a simple nod. "Okay, it's your choice. I was just thinking that you would like having Pikachu on my other shoulder. I was doing it just as much for you as for me."

Okay so that wasn't the entire truth, but nonetheless her ears perked up before I even finished.

"So you are interested in our little deal." Her only answer was a quick nudge against my neck. "I knew you would see it my way."

"What are you plotting over there?"

"Oh nothing." I answered as I turned around with a big smile. "I'm ready then."

"Fine, we'll just see who Pikachu likes best." He said smugly. "Pikachu, just choose which one of us you do like best. Don't worry about anything else."

"_Sad to say Ash but if I'm right about this we would both lose that bet. It's just that I have my ace in the hole."_

"Come on Pikachu, who do you really like the best. Us or Ash?"

"Come on buddy you know that you would prefer to stay over here with me. We've been friends this long how, how can't you?"

I started to smile as I could see that Pikachu was visibly torn between his long time best friend and trainer or one of his friends with his possible love interest on her shoulder. The electric mouse kept on looking between me and Ash, but when he stopped and looked just in my direction I looked out of the corner of my eye to see if Eevee was doing anything. Sure enough she had a coy smile on and was staring straight at Pikachu. Pikachu was probably trying to resist himself from immediately jumping off of Ash's shoulder, but eventually he gave a small sigh.

"Pika Pikapi." He apologized to Ash just as he jumped off of his trainer's shoulder to walk over to me and Eevee. Taking a couple of jumps he made his way up to my other shoulder, but as soon as he got there he only looked at Eevee with a slightly ashamed look on his face.

"Sorry you guys." I whispered to the two of them. "But he just set himself up for it, and there are times at which he needs to learn that his ego can grow a tad too large."

"But how? Why?"

I could see that Ash's face was of complete amazement, and not only that but if I were to take a guess he was in a bit of mental shock as well. Unless he knew of how close these two had become in the past few days, the only thing that he would see would be his most loyal Pokémon choosing one of his friends over him.

"Sorry Ash." I said as I walked up to him. "But don't take it the wrong way. In reality you didn't lose that little wager."

"But he…how…why… Wait what do you mean? He chose you over me."

"I'll tell you later, but I promise that the truth is that you didn't lose."

"I still don't know what you mean May."

Grabbing his hand I started to lead him back down the path to where Dawn was waiting for us. I could see his face start to get a little flushed as he realized the position that we were in. "Trust me. It'll make complete sense later. But back onto another topic, I really had fun today Ash. I'm glad that you brought me, even though we went on rides that you don't usually like."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied looking away slightly.

"_Not very subtle are we Ash."_ I giggled.

"You don't need to hide it. I remember you saying that you hated the ferris wheel because they were 'so boring' and I also know that you didn't want to go on the tilt-o-whirl that many times. You did that because I wanted to right?"

"Well you wanted to go on those rides and I figured that as long as you enjoyed it that was all that mattered." He said simply, the blush on his face only growing deeper.

"That means a lot to me Ash." I told him as I squeezed his hand a bit. I could see his smile grow even larger with my action. And to tell the truth I was actually enjoying the warmth that came from his hand. I felt very relaxed as we were walking like that.

"I'm glad that you enjoyed it."

"And thanks for winning me that Glaceon plush toy. No body has ever done something like that for me before." I told him while feeling a slight blush come to my face.

He just chuckled a bit. "You say that, yet right after I won you make three consecutive tosses. Which brings to question, what the heck will you do with all of these?"

"I'll be bringing the big ones home with me to add to the rest of my collection."

"Wait a minute, collection? How many of these things do you have?"

"Only about thirty-five."

"Thirty-five! What do you need that many of them for?"

I smiled. "I may not have liked Pokémon as much when I was little but I just couldn't resist their plush toy alternatives."

"So then what are you going to do with the ones of Eevee and Pikachu?"

"I'm obviously going to keep one, but as for the other one I was thinking of giving it to you."

"Ketchum!"

As I looked up I could see the spot that we were supposed to meet Dawn, but Dawn wasn't the only one there. A certain green-haired coordinator was waiting there as well. Looking over at Dawn I could just see her mouth out the words "I'm sorry."

"Ketchum what do you think you're doing?"

At Drew's comment I quickly remembered what it must have looked like to them. I quickly withdrew my hand from Ash's, but as soon as I did it felt oddly cold.

"I don't see why you're getting so worked up about this Drew." Ash said to my rival in the seemingly calm and collected fashion that I saw him use when he talked to Drew before. But unlike his trainer I could see Pikachu once again staring intently as the agitator, but this time it wasn't just one of distrust. This time it was obvious that Pikachu wasn't happy to see him in the least. Either he was mimicking Ash's inner feelings that were being well hidden or he still wasn't very happy about the comments that Drew made the other day.

"What that you take her out the morning after I'm finally able to ask her out?"

"May isn't something that you can just control; she can do what she chooses."

"Um don't I get any say in this?" I interjected into the boys' argument.

"But it's just the principle of the matter!" Drew nearly yelled at Ash.

"Guess not." I muttered to myself.

"So if you care that badly about it, do something instead of just standing there and yelling." Ash responded back at the coordinator's ranting.

"Then I will. Ketchum I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!"

Looking over I could see that not only Ash's smile had grown but Pikachu had one to match his trainer's. But this was far different from the smile that I usually saw; this one was a far more confident one, and at the same time almost intimidating.

"Not what I had in mind but at least you're finally speaking my language." As he said this Pikachu jumped off of my shoulder and confidently walked in front of Ash, neither of their smiles fading for even a moment. "Alright Drew, I accept your challenge."

* * *

To be completely honest I'm not satisfied with how the last couple chapters came out in general, especially Ash's date. But it would have been hard and too boring to go into as much detail as with Drew's date. Oh well I hope I can make up for it with the coming battle sequences.


	7. My Rival is Your Rival

Well here's the first battle. I know that many of you said that the dates were good but in my mind I'm still hoping that this'll make up for it with these battles. And of course before I start I have to say thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter.

* * *

"You think that we can stop them at this point?"

"Nope."

I had moved over closer to Dawn as it was quite obvious that those two would be battling each other and there would be nothing that would change that.

"Besides," she continued. "You basically have two boys fighting over you, why would you want them to stop?"

"Because they are both my friends, and it's not as if I actually like one of them like that."

"Suit yourself, but personally I wouldn't mind being in your position right now. Something about this just seems so romantic, although I would kinda prefer someone other than the narcissist as my other option."

Not completely agreeing with the blue-haired coordinator I looked back at the two boys. Both of them looked confident that they would win and that the other would not pose even the slightest challenge.

"So Drew, since we don't have a judge why don't we make the rules simple." Ash suggested to Drew.

"What did you have in mind?"

"A three on three battle with no substitutions. The winner is the one who still has Pokémon that can continue battling. If we have any disputes between each other the girls will have the final say."

Drew gave a small chuckle. "Sounds good to me but I'll knock that grin off of your face and show you why I'm the number three coordinator in all of Johto!"

But instead of a comeback from Ash I heard laughter instead, and it was coming from Dawn.

"You think that that has any merit to it?" She taunted while still laughing.

"What do you mean? That has plenty of respect behind it, besides it better than Ketchum has ever done in his pathetic tournaments."

"You don't read the international news too often do you?" She asked him. "Otherwise you'd have known that you're not just going up against one of our best friends but the number one trainer in all of Sinnoh outside of their Elite Four."

"_Wait a minute; Ash is the number one trainer in Sinnoh? That would mean…"_

"Ash placed first in the Sinnoh League?" I blurted out in utter amazement.

"You got it." Dawn said with a large smug smile.

"_With everything happening to me and the Johto Grand Festival I completely forgot to ask Ash how he did in Sinnoh. I can barely believe that he actually won."_ I thought to myself as I looked over at him. Almost as if viewing him from an entirely different set of eyes I could then tell that the smile and posture he wore truly looked as if they belonged to a champion. _"So he won his tournament as well. His hard work finally paid off and he won a regional championship. Just like me he has taken the biggest leap towards achieving his goals since first receiving Pikachu."_

While this was a battle between two of my own friends, of which I originally wanted to stay neutral, I had apparently already started to take a side. While Drew was nice in a romantic way and gave me occasional coordinating advice, there was just something about Ash that kept him on a higher level than Drew.

"So Drew shall we get started? Ash asked grabbing one of his Pokéballs and expanding the small red and white sphere in his hand.

"Of course but how should we figure out who chooses first?"

I could tell that Ash gave it a little bit of thought before finally responding. "I know, Dawn can you use the coin flip application on your Pokétch?"

"Sure," she piped in. "Aright Drew, since Ash decided the rules for the battle you can call the flip." She told him as she got her Pokétch ready. "Ready?"

He nodded.

"Call it!" She called out while pressing a button on the small computer.

"Heads."

Everyone was waiting to see what Dawn's response would be. Her face seemed to fall a bit as she apparently got the results.

"You win Drew." She said with a sigh. "That means that you have to choose first Ash."

"Doesn't matter." He stated while playing with the Pokéball in his hand. "I would have probably chosen this guy anyways. Come on out Infernape!"

In a flash of light a brown simian Pokémon appeared on the makeshift battlefield. But even though it wasn't all that tall it was an impressive sight to behold. Golden bands surrounded its wrists, shoulders, and knees giving a stark contrast to the white fur of its torso and lower legs. But what was most impressive was what looked to be a crown of flames mounted on the top of its head, below which a face that was apparently framed by fairly intimidating red marks. The Pokémon made little movement after exiting the Pokéball. It just stood there slightly hunched over with one set of knuckles on the ground and its tail twitching back and forth every few seconds. But it was still looking intently over at Drew as the flames on its head seemed to grow in anticipation for the coming battle.

"What the heck is that thing?" I asked myself as I took out my Pokédex and pointed it at the native Sinnoh Pokémon.

The little computer whirred for a second before a voice chimed in. "No entry found."

"You're Pokédex probably isn't programmed with the Sinnoh Pokémon." Dawn said as she reached into her pocket. "Here," she offered while handing over her own Pokédex.

"Thanks Dawn." Pointing the new device as the Pokémon I could hear the familiar whir of the computer as it searched it databases. Within a second I could hear a small chime as the screen displayed a picture of it.

"Infernape, the Flame Pokémon. Its crown of fire is indicative of its fiery nature. It is beaten by none in terms of quickness."

Looking back at the battle I could see that Drew had a worried look on his face. Even though Ash choose his Pokémon first, he was clearly at a disadvantage in this battle and he had yet to even choose his first Pokémon. Drew had yet to travel to Sinnoh and learn the Pokémon that were native to that region. Ash on the other hand had traveled through every major region in the vicinity; learning about each and every Pokémon he came across. He's probably seen Pokémon that most of us had never even heard of, including any that Drew would be using in this battle.

While the Fire-Type of Infernape was quite obvious, thanks to Dawn's Pokédex I could see that it had attributes from the Fighting-Type as well. That was one thing that Drew would not be able to tell all that easily from just looking at the light frame of his opponent. Information like that could prove to be a trainer's downfall if they learn them at the wrong point. And seeing as how Ash just came from the Sinnoh region, with the exception of Pikachu, his team would be completely filled with Pokémon that Drew would barely have heard of let alone know how to battle them.

Taking a quick gulp Drew grabbed one of his own Pokéballs. "Alright then, we'll just go with this one."

Tossing the ball into the air he summoned one of his own Pokémon out to battle. As the light faded a pink Pokémon started to take shape. The soft white wool it wore around its neck and head hid its potent electrical potential. The black striped horns were accompanied buy a thick black stripped tail which ended in a blue orb that seemed to give off a faint light. As soon as it hit the ground the lamb's wool started to spark before letting off small currents of electricity into the surrounding air, seemingly encasing the Pokémon in a field of yellow threads. As the currents continued to build the ball at the end of its tail began to glow with a brilliant blue color. Considering everything it was not hard to tell why Drew added this Pokémon to his team.

"For such a snob he really has cute Pokémon!" Dawn exclaimed as she grabbed for my Pokédex.

"Hey!" I reflexively shouted at her.

"Relax; we'll just switch our Pokédex for this battle. Unlike mine yours has the Johto Pokémon logged in it." The coordinator explained as she pointed my Pokédex at the Pokémon.

After a quick second, the device chimed and started to reveal its data. "Flaaffy, the Wool Pokémon. Its fluffy fleece easily stores electricity. Its rubbery hide keeps it from being electrocuted."

"So he decided to use Flaaffy to start out with." I muttered to myself. "If that Infernape was once Ash's Chimchar like I think it is, then this won't be an easy battle for Drew."

"So you were able to catch a new Pokémon in all that time you were over here." Ash called out to his green-haired opponent as Pikachu made his way back to his trainer's shoulder.

"Cram it Ketchum, I'm going to win this whether you use your new Pokémon or not."

"You're not intimidated by my little monkey are you Drew?"

"Of course not, in fact I'll even let you make the first move."

"Well isn't that kind of you." Ash said sarcastically. "But I won't complain. Infernape let's use Leer to start this off."

"Ape." The Pokémon responded before its eyes started to glow pure white, staring straight at Flaaffy.

"_Leer? Why did he start out with that?"_ Looking over at Drew I could see that he looked almost relieved at Ash's actions. _"Doing something like that is almost announcing that you will be going up close."_

With a smug smile on his face Drew called out to his now slightly unnerved Pokémon. "Don't worry Flaaffy, just shrug it off. You know what to do."

"Laaaf." The pink Pokémon nodded. As it looked back at Infernape I could see from my angle that the ball on its tail was starting to glow with a metallic white color. But from Ash's position he probably couldn't tell that there was even a difference.

"Dawn what is Ash thinking?" I whispered to her. "Infernape is just going to get clobbered if he keeps this up."

"Daijōbu. He'll be just fine. Have some confidence in him."

"Alright now we start the offensive Infernape." Ash told the Flame Pokémon.

Over on Drew's side I could see a smile start to grow on his face as he readied himself for the coming close range attack.

"Infernape, Flamethrower!"

"_Huh?"_

Eyes still glowing white the fire on top of Infernape's head flame grew brighter as it lengthened to the point where it was almost as long as Infernape was tall. Letting out a fierce call the red hot flames spouted out if its mouth at its opponent.

This must have caught Drew completely off guard as he frantically spat out his defense. "Flaaffy quickly use Light Screen!"

With a cry if its own the Wool Pokémon quickly brought its front paws around its body creating a yellow barrier just moments before the oncoming fire hit its mark.

As the fires dissipated Flaaffy was visibly shaken as the remaining embers floated through the air around it, and I could understand why. Every hint it was getting from its trainer was saying that the unknown opponent would be closing in and then attacking. Instead a powerful burst of flame was hurled at it and if it wasn't for the Light Screen there would have been some major damage.

"Told ya." Dawn whispered to me with another smile on her face.

"What's the matter Drew? Were you wanting me to attack up close?" Ash asked the annoyed coordinator.

"Don't mock me Ketchum, I won't fall for your little mind games."

I was amazed at what had just happened. _"Since when has Ash actually planned ahead like this? Did he really change that much in Sinnoh?"_

"We'll show you just how powerful we really are Ketchum. Flaaffy, Thunderbolt. Full power!"

"Infernape, you know the drill." Ash said calmly. "Flame Wheel."

As Flaaffy charged its attack the sparks started to arc around its wool as the built up static electricity was being collected to be expelled at the soonest opportunity. In contrast the Sinnoh starter enveloped itself in fire with a quick flip and started to spin while staying on a single spot on the ground. But as it continued to spin the flames that surrounded its body started to turn from mainly a red color to a deep orange color with even a few patches of white starting to appear.

"Do it Infernape!"

With that call the ball of fire blasted along the ground, leaving only scorch marks in its wake, right for the waiting lamb.

"Now Flaaffy, shock that thing out of consciousness!"

"Flaaaaffy!"

The arcing electricity along its wool disappeared before quickly returning as a concentrated bolt of lightning aimed for the oncoming attack.

Drew was watching intently as the free electrons flew at their target. As soon as they made contact the electricity surrounded the fire Pokémon and continued to arc around it.

"Yes, direct hit!" Drew cheered.

But something just didn't seem right to me. As I looked at the colliding attacks I finally figured out what was wrong as Infernape continued to speed towards his own target. While the electricity did hit its target for some reason it was only hovering around the fire and not penetrating it, slowly disappearing as Infernape closed in. Drew apparently only noticed this just before the attack hit.

The Flame Wheel was a clean hit and the dust from the impact billowed up into the air. As it settled the simian Pokémon was standing, virtually unharmed. Flaaffy on the other hand was just struggling to get up. Burn marks covered its rubbery hide in various areas and portions of its wool were still glowing as others were completely black.

"But how?" Drew was almost speechless as his Pokémon got to its feet.

"It's actually quite simple Drew." Ash answered his opponent's supposed rhetorical question. "I actually saw this technique years ago while on my first travels through Kanto. I believe he called it an 'Air Lance'. It simply involves heating the air to super high temperatures to allow for the diffraction of electricity. It really takes you by surprise doesn't it?"

"You're mocking me again Ketchum, and I don't like to be looked down on. But now that you're up close we can get this battle over quickly, Flaaffy Focus Punch!"

The now angry pink Pokémon's right paw started to glow as it charged the short distance to its opponent. As the Punch closed in on the jaw of Infernape the monkey nimbly dodged off to its right, letting not only the attack but the entire Pokémon go right past him.

"You should really just give up this battle Drew." Ash said calmly. "Your Flaaffy doesn't stand a chance against my Infernape. Cut your losses and go with one of your other Pokémon."

"We're not through just yet. Flaaffy double Focus Punch!"

"_Double?"_

As I wondered what Drew could be talking about my question was answered as the other front paw on Flaaffy began to glow as well. Once again it charged at its opponent, this time swinging with both fists in an effort to try and get a solid hit. But as fast as Flaaffy was at throwing the punches Infernape was far faster at dodging them. It looked almost as if he was dancing around each one of Flaaffy's attacks, occasionally doing a back flip or just simply side stepping them. It was actually getting almost embarrassing to watch. What little energy Flaaffy had left was being wasted as it continued to swing and miss while Infernape looked as if this was just some game of tag.

"This is going on too long. Infernape grab its wrists." Ash finally said.

"As if you could do that, it's a Fire-Type. They mostly specialize in long range attacks. When you let me get into close combat with you I had this battle won. All you can do is dodge…my…"

As he tried to explain how he would win the battle, the thoughts of it were probably quickly smashed as Infernape was able to carry out his trainer's orders, but it was more the position of how he did it that was amazing. While in the middle of doing another back flip to avoid one of Flaaffy's punches, he caught its right wrist with his left foot before anchoring himself on his arms, stopping in a perfect hand stand. The Sinnoh starter gave a mischievous smile as it looked up at his opponent from its new position. Struggling slightly Flaaffy couldn't break the strong grip that it was caught in as the glow of its right hand started to fade.

"The other one!" Drew called out, starting to sound a little desperate.

Nodding the electric Pokémon started to throw its second punch at the now upside-down primate, but with some guiding help from its tail Infernape caught the other wrist in his right foot and held firm.

"Now who ever said that Infernape was weak in close quarters combat?" Ash asked. "Actually he is more potent in that area than with his normal fire attacks. But you failed to see that, and it's time to finish this battle. Toss it Infernape and use Close Combat."

"Flaaffy use Thunderbolt!"

But it was already too late. Before Flaaffy could even start building up its attack Infernape's tail snaked its way around the woolen neck and using all three points finished his back flip with a slight twist of its body and threw the helpless Pokémon spiraling across the field, almost hitting a tree. Before it could even completely get up Infernape was already on his way there.

As the pink Pokémon finally got its bearings it looked up in time just to see its opponent towering over it. The Fighting-Type delivered three consecutive punches into its stomach before finishing up with a roundhouse kick sending the now living punching bad flying back towards its trainer.

"Alright Drew, Flaaffy is down. Choose your next…"

As Ash was talking Flaaffy was struggling to make it to its feet. The once pristine white wool that it sported when it came out of its Pokéball was now grey with dust and dirt. And even with all the burns over its body it was able to make it all the way up, panting the entire way. Even though it made it to its feet it was obvious that the Pokémon wasn't going to be staying that way for long.

"I commend your Pokémon for being this determined but I still think that you should return it and choose another." Ash finished as Infernape took up a position closer to his trainer.

"Not yet, she still has some fight left in her. We fight until the end, which is how we have always fought." Drew insisted, but with his voice cracking a bit it was obvious that he already knew the outcome.

Drew was getting really desperate with this, although I didn't really understand why. Even after this fight he still had two more to fall back on. Why make your Pokémon suffer through this any more than they have to?

Ash gave a small sigh. "Alright, if you insist Drew. We'll finish this fight. Infernape, Fire Blitz."

Looking back at its trainer for a second the Flame Pokémon gave a small nod before its eyes started to glow a light red. The crown of flames slowly spread across his body until the simian Pokémon was completely enveloped by the twisting fires. But unlike the Flame Wheel from before you could still easily make out the form of the Pokémon inside. In a flash Infernape sped towards Flaaffy, a trail of fire forming behind him.

Drew had a small smile on his face. "I was hoping that you would come up close again. Sorry to say but we'll be the ones to finish this off. Flaaffy use Reflect and get ready to use Iron Tail!"

Using what appeared to be the last of its strength Drew's Pokémon pulled its arms back in front of itself and another yellow barrier formed in front of its body. At the same time the blue ball on its tail once again began to shine with a metallic white color.

"_I'm not sure if this plan of Drew's will succeed but unless Infernape can't break through that barrier he could be in a world of hurt."_

But even knowing the obstacle in front of him Ash didn't even bat an eye. "Lead with Brick Break. Now isn't the time to slow down."

Just before impact Infernape's right hand started to glow right as he smashed through the seemingly pitiful barrier between the two Pokémon. With the barrier gone Flaaffy then was completely open for the full body strike of the Fire Blitz. There was not enough time for Flaaffy to counterattack as Infernape came rushing at her, shoulder straight into her torso.

In a literal flash, the battle was over. The powerful attack hit Drew's Pokémon dead on and completely knocked it out. With a slight limp Infernape made his way back to his trainer.

"Now she's definitely out Drew. You could have saved her some of the pain if you would have just listened to me in the first place." Ash said to him. "You completely underestimated my Infernape and it cost you the battle."

"Yes! That's one point for Ash!" Dawn cheered as Drew returned Flaaffy to her Pokéball. "Only two more to go!

Considering that he just lost I was surprised that Drew was actually quite calm compared to how he was just moments ago. Looking back at Ash he finally spoke. "I have to admit that you caught me off guard and I lost my nerve for a second, but I know what I need to do now. This has only just begun, a new round starts now!"

Grabbing another one of his Pokéballs Drew tossed it into the air, releasing the creature inside. As the red light from the ball took form a small winged shape began to appear. Its white and black lined wings flapped rhythmically as it took flight. The small purple body appeared vividly in contrast to the pure white of its wings. When it was finally completely out of its Pokéball the little butterfly flew up and started to do a quick spin. Scattering shimmering dust particles of blue, yellow, and purple hues around itself and Drew it created what almost looked to be a sparkling rain before finally coming to a stop and hovered in the air above its trainer.

"Isn't that a Butterfree?" Dawn asked while pointing the Pokédex at it.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. It loves the honey of flowers and can locate flower patches that have even tiny amounts of pollen. In battle, it flaps its wings at great speed to release highly toxic dust into the air."

"How did you know that that was a Butterfree?" I asked the usually clueless coordinator.

"Ash told me about how he used to have one and he brought it up on his Pokédex once. I've never seen one in person before though."

"Oh, guess Ash wowed you with his adventure stories as well. But either way Infernape will have a hard time with that one."

"Why is that?"

"From what I can tell Drew has figured out that fighting in close range will quickly make him lose this battle, so he chose a Pokémon that could take to the skies and stay above his opponents. That way Infernape will have a harder time using its physical moves and have to rely almost entirely on his ranged attacks."

"But he is still part Bug-Type, and fire is good against bugs. Besides Infernape is Ash's second strongest Pokémon, he won't be beat that easily."

"Let's hope so."

* * *

Daijōbu: This is the real saying that Dawn (Hikari) uses in the Japanese anime, the English adaptation translates it as "No need to worry" I think. It's not the exact translation but I won't get into that. The reason that I used it is because I don't like the adaptation's version, daijōbu sounds far more natural to me. Sorry to bore those of you who already knew most of this but I know that not everyone that reads it would.

As for this chapter I'm actually quite satisfied with how it turned out. Next round Infernape vs. Butterfree, update in two days. And as always please review!


	8. Power vs Grace: The Battle Continues

Well the next round's battle starts now with Infernape vs. Butterfree. And as always a big thanks to all who reviewed last chapter.

* * *

As the two Pokémon stood on the makeshift battlefield it seemed as if the tides had turned slightly. Unlike a few minutes ago Drew once again wore a confident smile on his face as his Butterfree hovered above him. Ash on the other hand lost part of his confident smile that he had on earlier. Though it wasn't a scowl or anything; it was more as if he was thinking very hard about the coming battle. While Infernape didn't get hit by Flaaffy once in the last battle, the Fire Blitz that Ash used right at the end took a bit out of the simian Pokémon.

"Well Ketchum, are you ready to start the next round?"

"I was born ready. You can take the first move Drew." Ash responded with his original smile returning to his face.

"If you insist, Butterfree start this off with Gust attack."

"Infernape use Flamethrower, we need to end this quickly."

Before the Butterfly Pokémon could even complete its attack the flames on Infernape's head started to grow again as some started to appear in his opened mouth. When they started to spew forth Butterfree executed its own attack, flapping its wings rapidly to produce a blast of air towards the fires that were coming straight at it. The two attacks collided in midair as a portion of the Flamethrower was reduced to nothing but embers, scattering around the surrounding field.

You could easily tell that one of the combatants specialized in coordinating. Almost every attack that was countered was done in a way that gave off the most flare. The most current one was just as impressive as it made the field look as if the air around us was filled with countless fireflies.

From beside me I could hear Dawn sigh. "For such a jerk it's almost impossible to say that he's a bad coordinator."

"There's no doubt that he's good." I responded only momentarily looking away from the battle.

Though after I said that I could see a smile return to her face, "Yet while he may be good, Ash is better."

"Vee." Eevee nodded.

Smiling at my enthusiastic Pokémon I couldn't help but agree with them. While Drew was a great coordinator, Ash was a very powerful trainer and couldn't be underestimated.

"Infernape use Blaze's power boost! It's time to blast apart that little breeze!"

Looking back at the battle I could see the area light up again as Infernape's crown of flames grew even further and its eyes started to glow a deep red color. In seconds the Flamethrower doubled in size, finally overpowering the Flying-Type attack and speeding towards its target.

"Butterfree dodge it!" Drew yelled out.

Stopping the Gust attack Butterfree was able to just barely move out of the way as the gout of fire rushed past it. But it was still easy to tell that it wasn't able to completely clear them as its flying became slightly less stable.

"Alright it's time Butterfree; cover the entire field with Sleep Powder. We'll be the ones to end this quickly."

Gaining altitude the Butterfly Pokémon started to fly small circles around the field as a blue dust began to fall from its wings down toward the earth below.

"_This is going to be a hard one to dodge. If Infernape takes even a slight whiff of that powder it'll slow him down enough to get the full effect. Careful Ash."_

But even with how confident Drew was Ash didn't lose a beat in his defense. "Infernape go underground."

Before the Sleep Powder got even close to the ground, the Flame Pokémon was already starting to burrow his way into the soil. And soon after Drew was already looking around trying to figure out where the simian would be popping up.

"You won't surprise me that easily Ketchum. You can't hide forever."

"Once again, you keep assuming that you know what I'm doing. Whoever said that I was hiding Drew? Infernape come on out and use Ember!"

Digging up from underneath, the Sinnoh starter came up in between Drew and his Pokémon with its eyes still glowing that deep red as it inhaled to prepare for the attack. Jumping slightly he released a multitude of small fireballs at the hovering Pokémon.

"Butterfree use Gust to scatter those flames and add a Poison Powder in there for good measure!"

Once again the Butterfly Pokémon started to forcefully flap its wings, and as the winds started to pick up a purple dust was the only visible thing that showed off the current of air before hitting the Fire-Type attack and forcing it back down towards the ground.

"Go under again Infernape!"

Digging himself a new hole Infernape once again retreated underground before the triple attack harmlessly hit the ground.

This little game of cat and mouse continued for nearly a whole minute as the Flame Pokémon popped out of the ground, launched an Ember attack, and headed right back under just before Drew called out his attack.

"What the heck is Ash doing?" I finally asked Dawn as Infernape dug in yet again. "He's pretty much just going in circles."

"Actually I think I know what he's planning. Keep watching, this should be good. If I'm right correct then this is actually something like an older strategy that Infernape used with his old trainer when he was still a Chimchar."

"Old trainer?"

She was about to answer me but Ash cut her off with finally changing his pattern. "Infernape combo! Flame Wheel and Blast Burn at full power!"

I was slightly confused at Ash's request seeing as how at that point Infernape was still underground. It looked as if Drew was also fairly surprised at the order that Ash gave, but it didn't take long for the answer to reveal itself as the ground started to shake slightly just as a dim red light began to shine through the center holes. It quickly spread out to the edges until every hole glowed with an ominous shifting pattern. It took less than a second before the holes closest to the center of the field started to become pyrotechnic geysers, and slowly every hole was throwing its fires high into the sky. I could only watch in awe as the swirling patterns of orange and red dominated all that you could see.

Before Drew could even call out an attack to counter the new threat, the pillars of flame sped towards Butterfree who at this point was desperate just to try and not become a part of the fantastic display that would have been worthy of the finals of any Grand Festival. Yet even at the sight of this attack Ash and Pikachu stood as calm as ever as the shadows from the fire danced around them.

"Butterfree Protect!" Drew finally yelled out as the Butterfly continued to try and completely avoid the powerful attack that surrounded it. Putting up a blue barrier around itself the Pokémon finally relaxed a bit as the red hot fires bounced harmlessly off of it. But Ash wasn't about to slow down just yet.

"Finish it off, Fire Blitz straight up the center hole!"

The fires around the periphery fell down as the center hole exploded in size as the flame encased Pokémon rode high into the sky. Before Butterfree could even react the powerful attack hit the barrier and stalled, but even such a barrier was already showing signs of failure as portions of it started to open up.

"Butterfree use Psychic, keep that monkey away from you!"

As the barrier started to fade away Butterfree's entire body started to glow a dim blue and that aura was slowly encapsulating Ash's Pokémon as well until both were floating in midair. The fading light from the impressive fire display slowly falling back underground brought the signs of Infernape's impending defeat.

"I think I've figured out your Pokémon's weakness Ketchum." Drew taunted. "You say that he is good at close range combat and yet can put on these impressive fire attacks, so I can only assume that that thing is Fighting-Type as well as the basic Fire-Type. And if my assumption is correct then this attack should be extra effective at stopping him."

I could see that after everything that he had done in the last two battles Infernape was thoroughly tired and unable to break free of the mental hold that he was now in, becoming nothing more than a play toy for his opponent.

"Toss it down onto the ground but keep your hold on him." Drew ordered as his smile grew back from being absent since he first sent out his Pokémon.

As Infernape hit the ground the first time, you could see it trying to suppress any pain that it was feeling before being brought up off the ground yet again. I almost couldn't watch as Infernape continued to rise off the earth, its limbs slightly limp. But before Butterfree dropped him again a red beam of light hit it turning the entire Pokémon into a matching color and withdrawing back into the red and white sphere that his trainer held.

"What are you doing Ketchum? You were the one who said that there would be no substitutions." Drew called out as his Pokémon dropped down before hovering just above him.

Miniaturizing the device, Ash looked up at Drew before grabbing an identical object. "I know what I said Drew, and because of those rules your Butterfree is the winner by default. There was no need to keep Infernape in a battle that he wouldn't be able to win. This of course means that I will have to choose a new Pokémon to bring out, and I choose this one."

As the familiar flash of light sprung forth from the Pokéball a new Pokémon that looked vaguely familiar came forth. But even though it looked familiar, I almost didn't want to know it. Balancing itself on its double barbed tail the bat-like Pokémon looked like an iconic terror of the night. Its "wings" looked more like a thin layer of pitch-black skin extending from its shoulders all the way down to its back. The claws that adorned its front limbs clicked a bit as they opened and closed in preparation for the coming battle. Its large eyes and ears seemed to scan the battlefield searching for anything and everything. I would have almost been scared of the Pokémon if it wasn't for its face, the playful expression that it had on was only complimented by the tongue hanging from the side of its mouth.

Pulling out Dawn's Pokédex again I scanned the specimen, waiting to hear the all too familiar beep to be heard.

"Gliscor, the Fang Scorpion Pokémon. It observes prey while hanging inverted from branches. When the chance presents itself, it swoops in for the kill."

"So Drew ready for the real round two?" Ash asked as his Pokémon bounced happily on its tail a bit. "Gliscor take flight!"

The slow bouncing that the playful looking Pokémon was doing intensified before it finally shot itself straight up into the air. Extending its wings the Fang Pokémon caught an updraft and started to glide up above the trees in a small continuous circle.

"Is that all you've got? Butterfree prep a Solarbeam, we can take this out in one shot."

Butterfree looked very tired as it hovered there. After the both physically and mentally demanding battle with Infernape it was having trouble hovering in a single place. But even still, small droplets of light started to filter towards its antennae, slowly collecting into an orb positioned between them. But Ash wasn't going to give it the time of day to complete the attack.

"Gliscor use X-Scissor, knock it out of the sky."

Drew only chuckled as Gliscor's claws began to glow a bluish-white. "You think that a Bug-Type attack will do all that much to Butterfree? It'll damage it but not enough to stop the Solarbeam."

"Glisc." The Pokémon hissed as she crossed her claws together creating a flying X the same color as its claws once were, aimed at the other Flying-Type.

"Then again better safe than sorry, drop down and fire the Solarbeam." Drew commanded.

Lowering its altitude, Drew's Pokémon was surprisingly able to keep the orb of light continuing to grow as it fell and just seconds from the ground it stopped before aiming and firing the powerful attack.

"Come down on it with Iron Tail. Maneuver around the beam and hit it square on." Ash called out to his Pokémon.

Performing a small midair back flip the vampire-like Pokémon continued on a crash course straight at the oncoming beam; but at the last second turned slightly, starting to create a slight spiral around the attack as the end of its tail began to shine in a metallic white color.

"Butterfree dodge it!" The coordinator called out as the Butterfly Pokémon moved out of the way before Gliscor sped right past it. Drew seemed to give a small sigh of relief as he dodged another blow, but he quickly snapped back into attention as Ash gave out another order.

"Go right into a Stone Edge!"

Right before hitting the ground Gliscor's glowing tail spun above its body hitting the ground below, creating several fissures before numerous sharp pointed rocks started to spring forth right at the hovering Pokémon right above it.

"Protect!" It was the only thing that Drew could call out before the rocks came up and hit Butterfree. Luckily for him just moments before they hit it was able to get the barrier up and block the attack.

"Now spring up and grab it to pull into a Fire Fang."

Ash was calling the attacks off one right after the other giving Drew little time to respond. And what was more impressive about it was the smooth transition between each set of combos, no sooner had Drew called a defense was when Ash was already mounting his next offense.

Still on the spring of her tail hitting the ground Gliscor used that momentum to throw herself back up at her opponent. Drew wasn't even able to get a word out as the Fang Scorpion Pokémon broke through the weakened barrier, grabbing its helpless prey by the wings.

As she continued to gain altitude Gliscor's fangs started to glow a faint red before she bit down into her opponent. Butterfree struggled for only a moment before Gliscor already started its decent back down to the ground with its prey out in front. The struggling Butterfly stopped moving just moments before they hit.

"That's going to hurt." I mumbled as both Pokémon hit the ground causing the dust to billow up again.

As it cleared there was only one figure that was standing. Ash's Pokémon was balancing on its tail once again with the motionless body of Butterfree lying before it.

"Damn." I could hear Drew hiss as he returned yet another Pokémon to its Pokéball. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised about all of this coming from the Sinnoh League Champion. But no matter, that just means that its time to pull out the rest of the stoppers and use my best Pokémon."

Picking his last Pokémon Drew tossed his Pokéball into the air as it emerged. Before it even took shape I knew what it was going to be. It was the Pokémon that nearly all coordinators associated him with, and has been with him for as long as I can remember. As the red light began to die down the Pokémon opened its big red eyes and shook itself off a bit after getting out of its container. Reminiscent of all the flowers that he gives out, each arm of the Pokémon ended in a bouquet of colorful roses, on the right one red and on the left blue. Atop its head was a third flower of white rose petals that looked something like hair. A small cape of leaves extended from its neck covering the back of its slim form. Spinning like a ballerina a sweet aroma started to fill the area as the Grass-Type slowly came to a stop holding its arms out to the side of its body.

"Hey I know that Pokémon." Dawn stated while staring at it. "That's a Roserade isn't it? I thought that he didn't have any Sinnoh Pokémon."

"Actually he had it as a Roselia when I first met him and it evolved into a Roserade during our travels in Johto. I'm not exactly sure on how he did that but it has since easily become his most powerful Pokémon. I've only seen it defeated once and that was in the semi-finals of the Grand Festival."

"Not bad, but that still won't be enough to stop Ash. Drew is down to his last Pokémon and Ash still has Gliscor and one more left. His chance of winning this has gone down dramatically."

"_And underestimating someone will cause you to lose a battle real fast. We saw that in the first battle between these two. Don't let your guard down."_

"Unless you object I'll take the first move." Drew said in an almost polite sounding voice, but no matter how it sounded the loathing he had for the battle was hard to hide. "Roserade, Stun Spore."

"Rose." The Grass-Type drew in its bouquets before sweeping them across its body releasing a cloud of yellow dust which made its way across the field slowly covering it in a mass of glittering particles.

"Gliscor back into the skies." Ash commanded as his loyal Pokémon launched itself up and out of the path of the oncoming attack. "Now fire down on it with X-Scissor."

With her claws glowing bluish-white again the Fang Scorpion Pokémon took aim at its land bound opponent before releasing a large white X speeding towards the ground.

But even with that attack coming I cold see Drew start to smile. "Counter it with a Magical Leaf, and then it's time to let the sun shine!"

Nodding as if it knew exactly what Drew was planning Roserade brought its arms in front of itself again but this time the bouquets were glowing slightly with their respective colors. Turning the now even more brightly colored flowers in the direction of Gliscor's attack multitudes of matching glowing small sickles started spinning out of the roses, most of them coming in contact with the X-Scissor causing a small mid-air explosion. But not all of them were taken out in countering the move, coming out of the smoke several of the blades continued on towards their target.

"Again." Ash stated calmly as Gliscor prepared for another X-Scissor to take the last of the leaves out. But as the flying Pokémon's concentration was on the attack that was right before her Roserade was already in position for its next move. Closing its eyes and extending its bouquets out to either side of itself the flowers seemed to start collecting light as small glowing orbs started to filter into them. Only moments later Roserade opened its eyes and launched the attack straight up into the sky, completely missing its opponent.

"_That couldn't have been Solarbeam."_ I found myself thinking as Gliscor finished off the last of the leaves _"It took too little time to charge, and if it's not Solarbeam than it can only be one other."_

From the other side of the field I could just barely hear Ash mumble the words "That's not good." He obviously knew what the attack was as well, and that wasn't the best thing that he wanted to see at this point.

As the beam of light went up into the sky it started to fade as it continued up into the atmosphere. But the attack was no dud, or even a diversion. In fact that Magical Leaf was the diversion that Drew was hoping for. In a matter of moments the few clouds that were scattered across the sky started to dissipate as you could literally feel the temperature of the area start to rise with the direct sunlight now beating down on us.

"Time to put them on the defensive Roserade." Drew told his Pokémon. "Fire off a few Solarbeams."

Withdrawing one of its flowers off to the side, large amounts of light started to filter into it and it wasn't long after that the Bouquet Pokémon was already aiming it as the gliding Gliscor.

"_Sunny Day."_ I confirmed as the light green ray shot out of one arm as the other was already absorbing more sunlight.

"Gliscor dodge it!" Ash called out to his own Pokémon as it just barely avoided the attack.

"Sorry Ketchum but with Sunny Day in effect my Roserade is virtually unbeatable." Drew gloated at the raven haired trainer. "Fire another one!"

Pulling back the first bouquet Roserade aimed the second one and launched an identical beam as the first one started to take in light again. As Gliscor dodged beam after beam I could tell that while her flying was impressive, it was still relatively sloppy compared to a usual flying Pokémon. Every time that she dodged a beam it was only by a hair. Even I knew that it wouldn't be long before one of them finally hit their mark.

"Gliscor we can't just let them take the advantage." Ash called out to the Fang Scorpion Pokémon. "Start with a Screech and dive down with another X-Scissor, we'll show him that we aren't scared of anything."

Giving of a sharp hiss the Pokémon inhaled before letting out an ear splitting cry. The air visibly pulsated from the intense sound waves as everyone made a quick grab for their ears. It felt as if my eardrums would burst if I let go but looking down at my lap I could see that Eevee was in even more pain than I was as she tried to hold her own ears down. Forgetting my own problems I held onto her ears to help muffle the noise from her sensitive hearing. But while Dawn and Drew were also holding their ears Roserade only looked to be in minor discomfort. Yet that discomfort was accompanied by it staggering a little, while the Screech attack apparently wasn't all that bad for its hearing the sound waves must have somehow been disorienting it.

Ash and Pikachu on the other hand were still focused on the battle; even though they had to cover their ears as well Ash never took his eyes off of Roserade or Gliscor. Shaking slightly Roserade aimed one of her glowing bouquets at the source of the painful noise and fired her last prepared Solarbeam. As the attack came the Fang Scorpion Pokémon started to spiral down the beam, exactly like it had done right before Butterfree's defeat. Except as she descended this time the Screech attack was still going full force while her front claws began to glow with a now all too familiar light.

"Like I'd fall for that again Ketchum, Roserade forget about that annoying scream. It's time to use Weather Ball." Drew shouted over the deafening noise.

Nodding the Bouquet Pokémon brought both of its arms above its head as a small ball of fire started to form between them.

"Gliscor launch the attack now!" Ash ordered her as soon as he caught sight of the growing orb.

Immediately stopping her first attack Gliscor crossed her claws together as the X once again flew at its target, but this time there would probably be no dodging. Drew had the upper hand and he knew it.

"Fire!" He yelled as the attack reached its full size.

The two powerful attacks collided, but this time there was no explosion. The glowing X struggled slightly against the force of the fireball before being completely engulfed by it. Without any more obstructions the Weather Ball continued on to towards the oncoming Ground/Flying-Type.

"Gliscor protect with Steel Wing!"

With only a split second to spare its wings started to glow a metallic white as she pulled them in front of her like a makeshift shield as the attack hit. But even if she was able to get up a small defense in time the attack still hit full force, covering the falling Pokémon in fire as it hit the ground.

"And that's number two." Drew said proudly. "Now we're even at one left, and my Roserade is ready to go another…"

As Drew was finishing up the flames that surrounded Gliscor died down as she weakly got to her feet. But when she did finally get up Gliscor stood proudly as she glared right at Drew and Roserade. He scowled at the Pokémon as she tried her hardest to put on a commanding front after the powerful attack.

"It's okay Drew." Ash finally stated as he reached for her Pokéball. "Even though I know that she could probably take a little more, she just wouldn't want to give up until the very end." Retracting the Pokémon back into its ball he whispered a few things to it before looking back at Drew. "As much of a crybaby she is, Gliscor would still want to keep getting up until her muscles would no longer listen. But don't worry; if you are going all out I might as well do it too." Looking over at Pikachu the little Pokémon nodded before leaping off of his shoulder and slowly walked onto the field, but there was no hesitation in his steps. He walked as if this was nothing more than another check-up at the Pokémon Center. "My last Pokémon is him."

* * *

I suppose that most of you saw that one coming. Oh well, if you did or didn't it doesn't matter. The final round, Pikachu vs. Roserade, comes in two days. Of course thank you for reading and your reviews are always appreciated.


	9. The Final Confrontation

I guess it's a good thing that I decided to only do a 3v3 battle instead of the full 6 that I was originally planning. Well here's the final battle between the two of them, and just to say right off the bat I got a little imaginative with some of the attacks and how they are used. So I just hope that I got the descriptions well enough to get them across to everyone. But I do believe that they would all be possible, one of the two will even get an explanation later on. And so it starts.

* * *

"Eevee eve!"

From my lap I could see that Eevee was probably cheering her hardest for her favorite yellow mouse. I laughed a little as I could see Pikachu's posture straighten up a bit after hearing her shouts. But not everyone there was completely confident in Pikachu's abilities.

Hearing him give off a light laugh I could see that Drew wasn't all that impressed by Ash's selection of his last Pokémon. "Really Ketchum? Your last choice is the rat?"

Right after hearing those words I immediately put my hand over Eevee's mouth as she began to tense up. "I know what you're thinking." I whispered to her. "And don't you even dare. If he thinks that low of Pikachu then let him take the consequences for himself. Even if I'm starting to agree that he deserves it."

Once again completely oblivious to what could have just happened to him Drew continued to laugh. "And here I was almost afraid that I would be facing an uphill battle seeing as how you could pick any Pokémon in your arsenal, but here you pretty much place a win straight into my hands. I'll win this and then May and I can travel to Sinnoh together. I believe that my luck is finally kicking in."

"_If he really thinks that winning a simple battle will be enough to decide what I'm going to do, he thinks of himself first even more than I thought. After everything that's happened in the last couple of days, the only thing that I do know is that if I do go to Sinnoh I'll be traveling without him."_

But I was surprised when Ash started to laugh as well. It started out as nothing more than a small chuckle but grew quite a bit as he tried to stop.

Drew's own laughter stopped rather quickly as soon as Ash's started. "What's so funny?" When Ash didn't answer Drew grew fairly irritated. "Stop that snickering! What the heck is so funny! Have you finally understood that Electric-Types can't win against Grass-Types?"

Finally getting his laughter under control, Ash looked at Drew with nothing more than a smile and a tear in his eye. "Sorry it was something that you said, I couldn't help myself. It's just that you've been the first person in months to openly consider themselves lucky to go up against my Pikachu. Lately I could tell that many were desperate not to face him. But if you think that you will have such an easy time finishing this fight then back up your words, I'm ready when you are. In fact I'll even give you the first move."

"Dawn?" I asked my friend who was sitting next to me. "What does he mean by that?"

"Oh that's right you wouldn't know what happened." She answered looking back at me with a cocky smile. "It's something that Ash has added into his fighting style after getting thrashed by some trainer a few months before getting his last badge. As you've probably noticed, the way that Ash uses his attacks is very different from when you last saw him."

I nodded indicating that she could continue.

"The trainer that he went up against used a strategy much like what Ash is using now, a fluid movement from one attack into another giving the opponent little time to react to the next hit. Or at least that's how Ash describes it. For months he trained all of his Pokémon to be able to pull off those maneuvers, but there was one Pokémon that he trained with far more than the others, of course the one I'm talking about is Pikachu, and unlike the others he only trained with him in private. He made sure that they were away from everyone, including me, Brock, and even his other Pokémon. In the months before the Sinnoh League Tournament he and Pikachu learned a new technique that has yet to be beaten."

"Wait, he did that? And what do you mean 'it's yet to be beaten'?"

"Yep, he did. And it's just as it sounds. Every person who has gone up against it has lost. Brock even stated that from what he could tell it would be next to impossible for someone to beat it if they were going up against it for the first time, and that the only way to beat it would be to find out how Ash is able to pull it off in the first place."

"So what is this technique?" My interest was easily perked at the sound of Ash actually becoming an even better trainer than I had originally thought; which after everything that I've seen in the last hour was already pretty high.

"Well I'd be willing to bet that we will see it in this battle and that can explain most of it better than I could, but as for the specifics I don't know."

"What, didn't he tell you?"

"Nope, he didn't even tell Brock. As of now I think that the only ones who know how it works are Ash and Pikachu. Whenever we would ask him about it all he would respond with is 'Sorry guys but I just can't tell you. It's not as if I don't trust you its just that I have no real reason to tell anyone'."

"Is it really that great of a move?"

"You'll just have to see for yourself."

Looking back at the battle I could see that Drew had yet to make his move. I'm not sure if it was from everything that Ash had said to him or if he was thinking up a specific strategy to use but it was nothing more than a stare down. Before it looked as if Drew would just stay that way for the rest of the battle he finally gave his first order.

"Roserade start this off with a Weather Ball, let's show this rat who the real stars are."

Still a little shaky from the final attacks of Gliscor, Roserade lifted its bouquets above its head again as the fireball began to form. As it grew larger Pikachu just stood there looking at the attack as Ash gave no order. Even once Roserade launched its attack Ash had yet to make a move. I could actually start to feel Eevee tense up again as it closed in. It wasn't until it was almost right on top of Pikachu that Ash finally gave his command.

"Dodge right then straight at it with Iron Tail."

The next couple seconds were something that I couldn't even completely believe. In a split second Pikachu jumped to the right and sped straight for Roserade, tail glowing. But that wasn't anything special, what was odd was the fact that as he moved there seemed to be one or two Pikachu coming off of the first. I even rubbed my eyes to try and clear them just in case it was just me. But by the time I had opened them again less than a second later Pikachu had already crossed the entire length of the field and closed the distance between the two of them. With a quick spin the steel-hard tail hit its target sending the Bouquet Pokémon sliding backwards.

I started to just think that there was just something wrong with me because between the blurring of Pikachu's body and the speed at which he executed everything it was virtually impossible for him to move like that. But looking back on everyone else here I could see that it might not have been just me. Drew had a completely blank look on his face as he stared at the yellow mouse while Dawn was sporting a large smile.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" I vaguely asked her as I was starting to doubt not only my eyes by myself as well.

"Yep, that would be part of what Ash was training for. Somehow he was able to increase Pikachu's speed to a point where it's hard for a normal human to keep track of him. Seriously, there were some trainers in the Sinnoh League almost freaking out when they claimed that it wasn't natural for a Pikachu to move that fast. A few trainers surrendered before even fighting Ash saying that Pikachu was 'possessed' or something. But even Brock assures me that it should have been impossible for him to actually move like that, so there was something unique that Ash did in those months of training. Though if you think that this is impressive you should see the other thing that they learned."

"_Other thing?"_

"You've grown quiet Drew, is there something wrong?" Ash asked the stunned coordinator.

Shaking his head a bit Drew glared right at Ash. "This can't be real. No land-based Pokémon can move that fast."

"No one can tell you what you have to believe; in the end you can only trust what your eyes tell you." He responded in a very un-Ash like manner.

"Well what I do know is that I will still win, even with your little trick."

Even though he was putting up a brave front it was easy to see that Drew was a little unnerved by what he just saw.

"Roserade Leaf Storm!" Drew finally called out. "Even if this is some sort of trick if we use the multiple shots of Leaf Storm we should be able to get it."

"Rose." The Pokémon nodded weakly before pointing both of its bouquets at the waiting Pokémon. As the flowers fell into place leaves began to come off of the sides of them and started to swirl around the outstretched arms. Moments later a small cyclone of leaves spiraled towards Pikachu. Once again the attack sped towards its target and it wasn't until the last second that Ash finally gave his command.

"Dodge left and go for another Iron Tail."

I made sure to try and keep my eyes completely on Pikachu this time as he leapt out of the Leaf Storm's area and shot right at Roserade with his tail glowing the all too familiar metallic white. But no matter how much I concentrated on the Pokémon I still couldn't get him in focus. In fact this time it almost seemed as if it was harder to keep an eye on him, as if his speed increased even further.

"Turn and fire!" Drew quickly shouted as soon as Ash gave his last order, but by the time he gave it Pikachu had already dodged the first attack and was speeding back at the Bouquet Pokémon. The increasingly anxious Pokémon was barely able to turn fast enough to aim the second Leaf Strom in that direction, but just before Pikachu made contact he was caught directly in the whirlwind.

Yet only a fraction of a second later Pikachu appeared on Roserade's left and before the Pokémon could even completely turn to look Pikachu got a clean hit sending it head over heals across the blackened field. As the flower Pokémon came to a halt I could see that even after seemingly getting hit caught in the Leaf Storm for some reason Pikachu had yet to even receive a single scratch

Once again I just couldn't believe my eyes. _"I could have sworn that Pikachu got hit head on by that attack. How the heck was he able to recover from that so quickly and get in his own attack? Did Ash really figure out how to make Pikachu fast enough to literally disappear from sight?"_

As Roserade struggled to get to its feet Drew was once again speechless, but the anger and frustration that boiled up from him was obvious. After what looked to be a near perfect hit Pikachu wasn't even injured and dealt a major blow not only to Roserade but Drew's ego as well.

"Alright Ketchum," he started, voice seething with malice. "You've forced my hand. I was planning on saving this for the next Grand Festival, seeing as how we haven't completely perfected it yet, but I won't lose to the likes of you! Do it Roserade, Petal Dance."

After a moment to catch its breath the Pokémon closed its eyes for a second before opening them with an odd blue glow. It didn't last long as its entire body started to spin like a top. Faster and faster the flower Pokémon spun as pink rose petals started to come off of its body, but for some reason the petals didn't go anywhere. After shooting out of Roserade's body they slowed down and began to gather in clumps around the Grass-Type. Soon those clumps became larger clusters of hundreds if not thousands of petals, slowly surrounding it.

"_What the heck is that? I've never seen a Petal Dance anything like this before. They should be shooting out of its body at Pikachu not stopping in midair and just hover there. I'm not liking the look of this."_

Ash was watching very intently as the petals gathered. Motioning for Pikachu to back off a bit the Electric Mouse did accordingly, creating a good distance between him and his opponent.

"That's enough Roserade." Drew told his Pokémon as it came to a halt, the petals still hanging in midair. As it opened its eyes I could see that they were still glowing with that odd blue color. "I've always known that my Roselia was special, and now I'm just figuring out how special it is. Allow me to give you a sneak peak at what will win me next year's Grand Festival. Roserade use Extrasensory just as we practiced!"

With only a slight nod the glowing eyes from Roserade deepened in color as most of the petals started to faintly glow the same color. As more and more of the petals started to glow they started to move as if they were a single living being with Roserade at its fluctuating core. Without warning a portion of it shot out like some arm traveling right for Pikachu.

"Dodge it Pikachu!" Ash yelled as the arm neared it target.

Pikachu looked as if he didn't need a second opinion as he jumped off to the right of the mass of razor sharp petals. But even as he easily dodged the attack another portion of it came off of the primary mass and started to speed towards him as well. As he dodged arm after arm extending away from Roserade, the attacks kept on coming. At times he miraculously dodged what looked like a direct hit by almost literally disappearing and reappearing not to far away. As the arms continued to lash out at him the central mass became less and less pronounced as the petals continued to chase after the lightning fast mouse.

Even though Pikachu had yet to be hit by the telekinetically controlled leaves there was still little he could do to defend himself against them and it almost looked as if they were starting to surround him.

"That's it Roserade do it now! Capture that rat!" Drew called out.

"_They are closing in on him."_ I finally realized.

As Pikachu was dodging each one of the attacks the rest of the arms were slowly creating a sphere around him. It finally got to the point where he had no more places to run to as they completely surrounded him. I could feel Eevee start to stir as she witnessed the sight as well. The best I could do to try and comfort the distressed Evolution Pokémon was to hold her and continually pet her.

"Now finish it!" Drew yelled as the thought of him winning probably came into being.

The sphere then completely closed off with every petal in Roserade's arsenal performing the capture, though the Pokémon looked completely exhausted from the mental stamina needed to control all of the petals. It was at that point that Ash finally gave his order.

"Pikachu Thunderbolt, max power!"

As the sphere shrunk down the entire field lit up with a blinding light as the electric potential of Pikachu was shown for the first time in the battle. I covered my eyes as the light became unbearable, only removing my hand when I could tell that the attack was over, and needless to say I was pleasantly surprised at the sight before me.

The field had completely changed from the state that it was in just moments before. The great mass of rose petals was reduced to nothing but floating ashes and the distinct smell of ozone. In the center of the field stood Pikachu, around him the ashes from the remains of his opponent's attack floated down to the scorched earth. Stray arcs of electricity occasionally pulsated off of him as his body readjusted itself after the massive attack.

On the other side of the field Drew wasn't happy to observe his opponent still standing. And seeing as how Roserade was starting to have trouble standing it was obvious that this battle wouldn't be lasting much longer.

"Pikachu, you think you still have enough for our finisher?" Ash asked his partner.

"Pika." He nodded, electricity flaring up from his cheeks once again.

"Alright then, you know what to do."

Gathering his energy once again Pikachu launched himself back at Roserade. Even after the massive Thunderbolt his speed didn't seem to slow down one bit. I was still having trouble keeping up with the electric mouse as he closed the distance between himself and his target.

"Quickly use Weather Ball!" Drew cried out as his chances of victory were almost completely smashed.

The Bouquet Pokémon weakly rose its flowers above its head again as the fireball took shape. But before the attack was even completed Pikachu was right up next to it, or he at least he was for a split second. Prior to him even stopping the Electric Mouse cut right and started to circle around the increasingly confused Roserade.

It was at that point where I completely stopped trusting my eyes. As Pikachu ran circles around his opponent the blur of his speed started to separate into several other Pikachu. But this was no Double Team, at least none that I've ever seen. As he continued to speed up the number of images increased as well and finally got to a point where there were three rows of them circling around Roserade, and one row of them was even running in the opposite direction of the other two.

I was getting as confused as the Grass-Type as I watched the supposed one Pikachu multiply into several individually moving creatures. Dawn just kept the same smile one her face as when Pikachu originally hit the field and I could only wish to know what was going through Eevee's mind at that point. Knowing her I could only guess that it was either of absolute joy to see Pikachu winning or one of amazement like I had; a stark contrast to the worried state she was in just moments ago.

Roserade was having a hard time keeping the Weather Ball focused as it tried to track each one of the Pikachu that kept on circling around it. Slowly the ball of red-orange flame diminished down to nothing, much to Drew's chagrin.

"Okay Pikachu, light it up." Ash stated with a big smile on his face. "It's time to really end this!"

As the multitudes of Pikachu continued to surround the Bouquet Pokémon crackles of electricity started to appear between them. As the number of arcs continued to increase they eventually formed into one large yellow ring, covering the Electric-Type and masking him from view. But at this point he was the least of anyone's notice.

It didn't take long for the ring to slowly close in on the helpless prisoner trapped within.

"Roserade get out of there!" Drew desperately commanded as defeat continued to loom over him.

But try as it might his Pokémon couldn't move one bit. When the ring started to close in the arcs of free electrons began to trail off of the ring and collect around the Grass-Type. Who, despite its natural resistance to it, became a living lightning rod; paralyzed by the countless thousands of volts running through its body.

Just when I thought that it was going to be a slow defeat at the hands of the ring, the field lit up one last time as the ring transformed into a pillar of light and energy, soaring straight up into the sky. After only a few seconds the light slowly began to disappear, with no more than a distinct smell and the blackened field as the only proof of what happened.

On the field Pikachu had stopped if front of Ash and was breathing in staggered bursts, no doubt from the two large uses of its electrical power in this battle. But he still looked ready for more if that was the case.

As the little bit of dust settled I could make out Roserade struggling to balance itself on the burnt bouquets that formed its arms. The rest of its body wasn't looking much better as electrical burns were apparent on every corner of its body.

"Come on Roserade we can't lose this!" Drew yelled at his Pokémon. But no matter how much he yelled there was little chance of it making getting up to its feet. And sure enough a mere second later the Bouquet Pokémon collapsed on the ground, unmoving.

"And that would be the end of the battle." Ash simply said as Pikachu walked back to his trainer. "I'm not sure exactly what you wanted to prove with all of this but now that you've lost Drew I think that you should just leave."

Returning his Pokémon to its Pokéball Drew turned and walked up to me, avoiding any eye contact with Ash whatsoever. "I will go, but first I have to ask a question." Pulling another rose out he looked straight at me. "May would you join me in traveling around Sinnoh together?"

Taking a glance back at Ash and Pikachu, I already knew my answer. "At one point I was honestly considering it Drew, but after everything that's happened in the last couple days I have to say no." His cocky smile quickly faded. "If this is how you treat my friends then that means that I have to choose between them and you, and that is simply just another battle that you can't win."

With an annoyed look he quickly withdrew the rose and left without saying a word, but not before giving a quick scowl at Ash. Ash though just looked back with a big smile, and it wasn't the smile that he had on during the battle. This was _his_ smile, the one that I've always enjoyed seeing. I couldn't help but feel my mood rise even further as I watched him.

After Drew was out of sight Ash and Pikachu walked back towards Dawn and I. Well Pikachu almost made it back but was tackled by a certain someone before he even knew what was happening. After everything that happened I couldn't help but laugh at the two of them.

"As is expected of the Sinnoh League Champion." Dawn cheered as Ash got close. "That was a great battle. You put that narcissist right back into his place."

"That battle was amazing Ash!" I declared right after Dawn finished. "I never knew that you could do things like that! And the way that you pulled off some of those moves I could have sworn that it was straight out of the Grand Festival."

"I somewhat have Dawn to thank for that one." He said a little sheepishly with a slight blush forming on his face. "In training with her so often I unconsciously started to take notice of the moves that weren't only just powerful but also looked good."

"If you put a bit more effort into it I would bet that you could become a great coordinator as well." I told him with a wink. Noticing that Pikachu and Eevee were finally making their way over to us I bent down to congratulate the new victor. "And I still can't believe the moves that Pikachu did in that battle. He didn't even get hit once the entire time." As I began to pet him I could see him wince a bit as I went over a spot on his back. "Well he almost missed every one of them."

Taking a closer look I could see a small patch of reddened fur near his shoulder. Eevee was immediately next to me looking at it as well, a worried look on her face. "Looks like you still need to work on that one Pikachu. But don't worry, it doesn't look like anything major, I can fix you right up." As I reached to grab some medication and bandages from my bag I could see that my little Pokémon was already starting to lick the wound, trying to clear everything away. Smiling I took over for her in cleaning it and wrapped a small bandage around it. "There good as new."

With a quick grin he quickly jumped up into my arms and just gave a satisfied coo.

"You're welcome." I smiled down at the small ball of fur in my arms. Letting Eevee onto my shoulder before I got up I looked at my two other traveling companions. "So now that that's over how about we start heading to Pallet again?"

"Sounds good to me. So enough of these interruptions, let's get moving!" Dawn said as she started heading towards the road.

Looking over at Ash I could see him shaking his head slightly at the sight of our friend. "Shall we?"

"Might as well, otherwise it'll be a while before she notices that we aren't with her."

* * *

Ya I know; one more chapter till the end, and until the point that most of you have been waiting for as well. I originally wasn't thinking that I would get an entire chapter off of just this fight. Oh well, as always reviews are always appreciated.


	10. The Ties of Love

Well this is the last chapter and the moment that many of you have been waiting for. This also ends my longest story so far; double that of any of my others. Not bad considering in my mental outline this was only supposed to be around 6 chapters; got a few more scenes in there than I expected. And I know that Ash might sound a bit OOC in this chapter but there is a good reason. But as usual that's enough of my ranting, enjoy.

* * *

The night sky was especially beautiful that night. Not a cloud in the sky and every shimmering diamond of light was visible for miles. Accompanying them was the fullest moon that I had ever seen, lighting up the forest below us.

I was sitting on the crest of a large hill that I found not too far from our campsite, Eevee snoozing softly in my lap. After the battle our little group continued on with the journey to Pallet, only coming to rest once the sun began to set.

In celebration for Ash's victory in not only that battle but also to make up for the one I missed from the Sinnoh League I made them my stew once again. This time I made sure to use some of my best dry herbs that I found on my way though Johto to make it different from the one that they had yesterday. And as before Ash was the one who ate most of it, but this time he was giving compliments about it in between almost every spoonful. Even Dawn agreed that this one was almost as good as Brock's.

So as I sat there with a full stomach, my loyal partner in my lap, and great friends just moments away the moment couldn't be any better. Well almost.

A large shiver sped up my spine as a chilly breeze swept past me. Clutching my arms together I was just about to head back to the warmth of the fire, but before I even got up I could feel something be put on my shoulders.

"You know you really should be wearing something more if you're just going to be sitting out here."

Smiling I knew exactly who that voice belonged to. "I know Ash, it's just that I couldn't resist being out here with everything looking like this."

Looking behind me it was exactly who I assumed, and with his eternal partner still sitting on his shoulder. Smiling back he joined me by sitting down to my left. My face started to feel a little flushed at the sight of him smiling like that again, looking away I tried to find something else to put my mind on.

Finally glancing at what he put on me I could see that he had taken off his jacket and draped it onto my shoulders. It already felt surprisingly warm even though it was only on me for a moment. By now forgetting about my reaction to his smile I just cuddled into it, enjoying the warmth that it gave.

"So why did you come out here?" I finally asked him, watching Pikachu jump off of him and walk up to me before climbing into my lap and curling up next to Eevee. I would probably say she was pleasantly surprised by that wake up call as she quickly relaxed back into my lap with him.

"You were gone for a while and I was just wondering where you went off to." He answered. "So while Dawn was cleaning up the pots I came out here to find you."

"Oh. Um Ash, would you mind if I asked you a question?" I asked almost out of the blue.

"Sure, ask away."

"In your battle today Pikachu was using incredible moves that I couldn't even believe that I was seeing. And even though I probably know how you're going to answer this I still have to ask, how was Pikachu able to move that fast?"

"The answer is a lot simpler than most people think, he can't. Or at least not at the speeds that you are thinking of."

I almost didn't think that I heard him correctly; first of all he actually answered a question about his "secret" technique without brushing it off. And next was simply what his actual response was to my question. "Wait, what do you mean that he can't? I saw with my own eyes that he was doing things that would even make a Ninjask jealous."

"But there are times when you can't trust your eyes."

"You're still dancing around the answer." I groaned.

"It's an optical illusion." He finally said.

"Optical illusion?"

"Yep, as Dawn probably already told you there was a trainer in Sinnoh who beat me very badly. I was barely even able to beat one of his Pokémon with all six of mine. After that loss I took everything that he did to heart and started to train my own Pokémon in a fashion that I thought he had used. While I was thinking about how he fought I found out that even if you practice your attacks and combos to perfection there is still no guarantee that you will win, you can only increase your chances. But there are other ways of battling; it's easier to actually go against the trainer's mind more so than the Pokémon. Most trainers only trust what their eyes are telling them and what they have learned through experience; it takes time for them to understand something they have never seen before. If it's what they see in front of them and it fits into something that they have previously learned than it almost has to be true. During a Pokémon battle all attacks are focused on the other Pokémon and not the trainer; so the trainer wouldn't have to worry about psychic illusions or any attacks, they just have to focus on the here and now of the battle. Because of this little fact I can use this technique to confuse them into believing something else and use that to win."

I couldn't believe it, Ash actually had put together something as complex as this, figuring out all of those different aspects by himself. He must have been completely thrashed by that trainer to cause this much of a change.

"So what do you actually do then?" I asked unconsciously, still awed at the fact that the impatient trainer that I used to know became someone like this.

"First Pikachu and I trained so that he could use both Quick Attack and Agility effortlessly; all the way to the point where he can use them for normal movement in a battle, Quick Attack for anything in a straight line and Agility for everything else. But even if that greatly increased his speed, it still isn't fast enough to do what you think you saw. So for months we trained on mastering Double Team as well, the real secret behind the technique. It's the modification of Double Team that creates the blurring effects and the duplicate Pikachu that everyone sees. In doing this it makes it appear that Pikachu is going even faster than he actually is. It's just that the attack is used in a way that the other trainer isn't expecting so the thought never really crosses their mind that its nothing more than an illusion and is no harder to beat than a regular Double Team. They just get it in their heads that any single attack is just too slow to hit him and in doing so they not only slow themselves down but could neglect a winning move when it counts."

"You really came up with all of that?" I blurted out. After a small self-conscious nod from him I couldn't help but continue. "Wow, I can definitely see how it would work. Or at least what I understood from what you said. But why did you tell me after I asked you after the first time when you didn't even tell Dawn or Brock?"

"I'm not really sure," he said as his eyes moved off of me. "I just feel that I can tell you the truth behind it, or almost that I should tell you. All I know is that I can't lie to you, and I feel that not really telling you the whole truth just isn't fair. It's hard to explain."

Not really completely understanding his logic I finally took notice of where his eyes were. As I saw where his gaze was I knew what was probably occupying his mind for most of the day, more so than a simple battle.

"You're most likely wondering about that little wager we had earlier, the one with who Pikachu likes the most. Am I right?"

Quickly looking back at me he seemed to be caught in somewhat of a trance. "What? Oh, well that is one thing on my mind. I'm still having a hard time believing that he likes you more than me."

"You want to know the answer?" I asked him while looking down at the two on my lap.

"Of course."

"It's actually a lot simpler than you think; in fact I'd be willing to bet that you were looking at everything in the wrong way."

Giving me an odd look he just asked one question. "What do you mean by that? There's only one way to look at it, he jumped off of my shoulder and went over to yours." I couldn't help but find the situation a little funny. "What?"

"Sorry," I said while stopping my spur of the moment giggling. "I just find it ironic that after figuring out that complex strategy of illusions and diversions that you can't see something like this in day-to-day life. What you said is true in a general sense but you're just focused on one fact. Your problem is that it's the wrong fact. But to help you answer that question I will just say one thing, neither of us won that bet." After receiving only a blank stare from him I decided that it was time to tell him. "The reason that you thought that I won was because the one who truly won was with me. He didn't choose me, he chose her."

"Her?" It took him a second to finally figure it out. "Wait a minute you mean that he chose Eevee?"

Smiling that even through his denseness he was able to figure out the truth, I nodded in response. "Yep, he chose her over the both of us."

"But why?"

"You might not have noticed it but these two have become really close over the last few days. Although something tells me that there was more to it than just what happened during the last few days but unless I'm mistaken I believe that these two have fallen head over heals in love."

"Love?" He seemed to gulp a little as I said the word, and was starting to look a little nervous.

"That's right Ash, love. As his trainer you couldn't have not noticed the fact that ever since that first night when Pikachu slept with us these two have been nearly inseparable."

"I really didn't think of it in that way. The only thing that came to mind was the fact that he was spending more and more time with you."

"So that's the only conclusion that you could come to then? What, have I been on your mind a bit too much for you to only think of that?" I teased, watching him turn bright red and looking away slightly mumbling to himself a bit.

Laughing a little I tired to at least keep him from feeling too bad. "Don't worry it as just a joke Ash. You really overreact to things like this, but then again that's what makes you you. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Seeing that he continued to mumble slightly I just smiled and lay down on my back, keeping my two passengers in one place. But as I started to relax a bit I could feel my arm hit something hard in the pocket of his jacket. Images of this morning came flashing back into my head of him slipping something shiny into his pocket before we left the Pokémon Center. Knowing that I really shouldn't peer into his things like that curiosity got the best of me.

Sitting up and looking over at Ash who seemed to be still lost in thought as he stared up into the night's sky I carefully reached into his right pocket and took out the object.

Holding it up into the moonlight the item's polished center reflected back a glorious golden finish. Or at least this portion of the item did, either way I recognized it immediately.

"_This is the ribbon that we won."_ I told myself as I grabbed for my own half with my other hand. _"To think that he keeps it on him like this and not just in his backpack, it actually feels kinda nice to know that he wants to keep this close to him at all times."_

"May I think that I have something to tell you." Ash finally spoke up, his voice a little shaky.

Quickly pulling my arms back into the jacket I looked back up at him. "What is it Ash?"

"I'm not really completely sure how to say this but I…" As he was about to say something he just trailed off, the red of his face only growing deeper.

"You don't have to be nervous around me Ash." I said simply. "We're best friends, you can tell me anything that's on your mind and I won't judge you one bit."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would I lie to you?" I asked, almost feeling insulted that he would doubt something like that.

"Sorry it's just that, well I um… I know that we have been friends for a long time and I'm really glad that I've known a person like you. You've been my best friend ever since we first met all the way back in Hoenn."

"_Where the heck is he going with this?"_ I wondered as he continued his seemly ranting speech.

"And I just wasn't feeling the same while I was in Sinnoh. I realized that I was missing my best friend after spending over a year-and-a-half with her, and after coming here it was great to finally meet up with you again. These last few days have been some of the best that I've had in a long time. And I knew that I liked you as a friend, but it was just now that I realized something else." He took a deep breath before looking right into my eyes. "May, I think that I'm falling in love with you."

Out of everything that he could have said, those words were the last ones that I would have ever expected to come out of his lips. I was completely speechless, heck even if I knew what to say I doubt that I could say them. This was nothing compared to the kiss that Drew gave me. As soon as those words came out I could feel my face start to grow a deep red as my stomach started to do summersaults. But at the same time I also found a hundred and one questions flooding into my mind.

"_He thinks he's falling in love with me? How? Why? Oh man he's wanting an answer, how should I respond? Do I feel the same way? How the heck should I know what love feels like!"_

As I continued my internal battle of questions without answers I turned to look at him. He wasn't wearing the normal smile that he always had, but he had on a softer look, one that seemed to say that he really did mean what he was saying. As I looked deep into his eyes I felt the questions starting to disappear, not that they were being answered but just that one by one they just didn't matter to me anymore. And after a while they were almost all gone until there was only one remaining, _"Do I feel the same way?"_

Once again I could feel my heart start to race as I delved into what that question really meant. Eventually it just got to the point where even that question started to seem irrelevant. I'm not sure if it was actually love that I was feeling but everything started to fit into place. There was no doubt that he was probably the best friend that I currently had, or even ever had for that matter. And as of late I did feel a bit odd while just being around him, or even my odd reactions to nothing but his smile.

But as I looked down at the two Pokémon lightly dozing in my lap I remembered what I had said to myself the night before. "Love will find its way into a person's heart even without them realizing it if you let everything take its course."

"_If those two found it like that what does it say about me and Ash?"_

Closing my hands slightly I felt an item that I nearly forgot about, Ash's half of our ribbon. Thinking about how much my own half meant to me during my journey I smiled as I actually started to relax. I suddenly knew exactly how I felt; there was no reason for why I did, I just did. And no one would be able to convince me otherwise. I also knew that at that moment there was only one way I that I could fully express it.

"Ash." I finally said after the long silence. As soon as I said his name I could hear him inhale sharply, probably waiting for my answer to something that took him so long to finally get off his chest. "Before I answer that there is something that I want to give you, but before I give it to you I want you to close your eyes."

He seemed a little hesitant at my suggestion, but soon nodded and closed his eyes. Motioning for Pikachu and Eevee to move off of me for a bit, I reached to the back of my neck and undid the clasp that held my own good luck charm. Taking one last look at it in the moon's light I wrapped the chain around the ribbon. Taking his hand in mine and opening it I slipped my most precious possession into his grasp.

"Okay you can open your eyes now." I told him as I held tightly onto his ribbon.

Looking at what he held I saw a very confused expression cross his face. "But May this is my…no wait this isn't my half. May, what does this mean?"

Lifting my hand up to stop him I spoke. "Ash, before you get any wrong ideas I have a few things to say. First of all in exchange for giving you that I only ask for one thing in return, this." I say as I held up his half of the ribbon

"But why would you want…"

Once again I signaled him to stop. "What you hold in your hand is my good luck charm, my most precious possession. It was the one thing that kept me connected to you and the memories of the great times that we had together. In essence it was the two halves of this ribbon that kept our hearts connected in friendship, my heart to yours. By giving you my half I'm not only offering you our friendship but my own heart which contains everything that I feel for you."

"And in you taking my half…"

"In taking your half not only am I asking for the same thing from you, but we can make sure to keep the connection that we had from the beginning. The only difference is that in addition to keeping our friendship that has grown to this point we will be holding what the other feels for us as well."

"Does that mean?" He perked up, the smile finally returning to his face.

I nodded, while doing so I couldn't help but let a smile come to my face as it started to heat up. But at this point I didn't even bother trying to hide it. "I've been told that a single action can say more than a thousand words ever could. And I felt that this is the only way that I could truly express those to you."

The smile on his face grew larger than I've ever seen it before. Moving right up next to him I could feel him hesitantly pull me in closer with one of his arms. Not resisting even the slightest I scooted even closer. Though looking up at him I once again found myself staring up into his deep auburn eyes, but as before my gaze started to fall down his face to the same thing that I was wondering about earlier.

I could feel myself slowly inching closer to his face as he did mine, but with a part of my curiosity taking over I quickly closed the distance between us, pressing my lips against his own. The feeling that resulted was more than what pure bliss could have felt like. His lips were soft and inviting as he started to give into the action as well. This was infinitely different from the feelings that I felt from Drew's kiss. It was hard to describe how I felt at that moment, no one word in any language could even start to describe the joy and comfort that I was feeling at that point.

After what seemed like hours I finally pulled away to get some air. As I looked at Ash's face I could still see a bit of shock on his face along with the now ever-present blush. Smiling I just laid my head on his shoulder still looking out into the night. He may have been nervous with everything right now but after what just happened I would be hard pressed not to try it again.

There was something else that caught my eye as well. During that little moment with Ash I forgot that we weren't completely alone. Pikachu and Eevee were staring right at us, Pikachu with the same look of shock that Ash had while Eevee looked rather satisfied with herself.

"Come on you two, you're not alone in this anymore." I said to them as they bounded over and stood on my lap.

"May?" Ash finally asked after recovering from what I can only assume was his first kiss.

"Ya Ash?"

"Have you figured out what you plan to do after we get to Pallet yet?"

"I haven't been thinking about it much, but now that these two are together we can't just very well separate them." I joked looking down at the only other ones with us.

"So than how about we both go to Hoenn?"

"And compete in the Hoenn League and Grand Festival again?" I paused slightly, even though I knew what my answer was. "I think that's acceptable." I finished with a small peck on his cheek before lying back down on the ground. Smiling I saw him lay down right next to me, but I could still see Pikachu and Eevee standing on my legs looking back at us.

"You know after all this time I thought that Pikachu knew more about love than you did Ash; I even continued to tease you despite the fact that in the end you apparently had a better grasp on it than I had. So I guess it looks as if the Pokémon really do take after their trainers."

Nodding Eevee brushed up next to Pikachu before giving him a lick on the cheek. In no time Pikachu was once again sporting that same odd smile that he had on last night. And just like before his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell forward onto my stomach, out cold. The smile never fading from his face.

"Then again it's a good thing that it's not the other way around." I giggled as Eevee walked up to him and snuggled into his body as if nothing had happened.

"Ash?"

"Ya?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For finally making me realize everything."

As I said this I pulled his arm around me, completely forgetting about the jacket. I always felt at ease while we were traveling together and at this point I felt as though nothing else in the world even mattered. Ribbons, contests, rivals; they all seemed so insignificant and unimportant.

I just lay there just enjoying the warmth that the one and only Ash could provide; forgetting about everything but the one who I could still see even as I closed my eyes and fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

And there's the end. To finish this off I'd like to thank Nina Lumos; while she wasn't directly involved in the story it was while reading/reviewing one of her fics that I came up with the idea for the ribbon switch. And I think that that scene pretty much defined this confession.

But other than that I hope you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading.


End file.
